Dweller of the Deep
by PhoenixfromtheFlame
Summary: Riful discovers something that can tip the balance of power back into her favour. Former Number One, Noah. The fourth Abyssal One.
1. The Lonely Ones

Disclaimer: I will never own Claymore despite how much I want to.

AN: And here is the story that I've been working on. I know that not a lot of people are going to read this, but I'm hoping that at least a few of them will leave reviews :) I've written the first six chapters already and I'll be posting a new one every four days :) Hope you enjoy :)

For anyone who hasn't seen or read Claymore before I've included a small glossary of the most important terms, which won't be included in later chapters. Hope it helps :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_Did you hear about the lonely ones,  
who spend their days hid from the sun,  
where the spotlight never shone,  
where no one's eyes ever will fall or rest upon?  
So we feed them their dreams  
between the lines upon the screens._

_Just a lonely boy in a lonely home.  
he's the lonely one, not the only one.  
Just a broken boy, in a broken home,  
he's the broken one, the unspoken one.  
Just a broken girl, living in a broken world,  
she's the broken one, not the only one. _

_~The Lonely Ones, Evermore_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Riful gave a sigh. "Dauf! Be careful! I don't want you ruining my new home, you know?"

The enormous Awakened being turned to the little girl, a little bit of guilt showing on his face. "Sorry, Riful. It's kinda hard to not smash it all."

The seemingly little girl shook her head, causing her straight brown hair to fly around her face, exasperated by the other's huge strength. The two were in the middle of the western mountain ranges, a few miles from the nearest town.

Dauf was currently hammering at a huge stone door, set into the mountain side. Riful had seen it and instantly her curiosity had been aroused. The Abyssal One had decided that the inside of the mountain would make a splendid home. Now if only they could get in without her moron of a man bringing the whole mass down on their heads.

The was an massive crashing noise as Dauf punched a hole straight through the door. The center of the doors had been weakened gradually, allowing the Awakened being to break through the door and not damage the mountain. Too much.

Riful clapped her hands, terribly excited by the prospect of a new home, "Let's see what's inside."

There was a sickening crunching noise as Dauf returned to his human form, shrinking down to a fraction of his former size. There was a sudden deep green blur, and the two of them were gone, the only sign that they had been there at all was an errant tendril or two, disappearing through the hole in the door.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

The two of them walked for a few minutes before Riful paused, her delicate features marred by a confused frown. The muscle bound man in front of her turned to face her, "Riful . . .?"

The little girl looked at him, "There's someone else here . . . down below us." Dauf didn't even try and extend his senses. His ability to sense yoki was almost non-existent, a fact that Riful, thankfully, didn't hold against him.

Riful frowned again, deeper this time, "Whatever it is, when I sensed it . . . it disappeared. I can't even sense it now, you know?"

Dauf was beginning to get nervous. Something that could hide from Riful so easily was dangerous. While Riful was an offensive type, she'd worked on her yoki sensing abilities until she was able to sense even the smallest amount of yoki for several miles. While there were many Claymores and Awakened beings that could sense further and more accurately, Riful was still more than competent enough to give a fairly accurate estimation of someone's power if they were in her range.

The seconds rolled by as Riful tried to locate the mysterious yoki aura. Dauf shifted nervously, fighting the temptation to shift into his awakened form. There wasn't enough room to shift in the corridor, and he didn't want Riful to be mad at him for ruining their new home.

Dauf spun around, convinced that he heard something moving in the shadows. Riful turned as well, although the little girl moved at a much calmer speed than her large companion.

The male Awakened being reached up to his shoulder, generating a slim pointed rod and tearing it out. It made him far more comfortable to be holding the weapon in his hands.

There was the sound of rushing wind, and suddenly Dauf was sent flying through the air, crashing through the lower part of the door. There was an ominous cracking noise, and the rest of the ancient door came crashing down, made unstable by the two holes torn through it.

Dauf heard Riful land beside him as he was pulling himself to his feet, shaking off the pain. He stood up, and seeing that they were outside, shifted into his Awakened form. There wasn't any reason to stay in his human form now that they weren't in the tunnel any more.

Both of them turned to look at the entrance to the mountain, waiting for the dust to settle and reveal the mysterious attacker.

The dust clouds dissipated, drifting away from the pile of rubble. Standing on the rocks, was a single figure. It was a boy, looking like he was barely into of his teens.

He had pale white skin, and wavy hair that was longer in the front than the back, reaching his chin. The boy's hair was a milky green colour, eerily reminiscent of a plant that hadn't gotten enough sunlight. The colour of his hair was mirrored by his eyes, which were framed by a slim, delicate looking face.

In fact, everything about the boy looked delicate. He was slim and short, appearing to be only a few inches taller than Riful.

The three of them stood there, each side observing the other. Finally, Dauf couldn't take it any more, "Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?"

The boy tilted his head slightly, "I am former Number One, Noah. And this is my home that you're damaging."

Riful and Dauf were stunned, although Riful shook it off much faster than her subordinate, "How can you be an Abyssal One? I've never even heard of you!"

Noah blinked slowly, "I was promoted to Number One after the unfortunate Mass Awakening of the first generation. Due to the rapid changes in the ranks afterwards, my awakening was largely unnoticed," The boy smiled slightly, something that put Riful on edge, "I can assure you that I earned my Number One status with hard work and skill."

Dauf's next words made Riful consider keeping her relationship with the former Number Three at all, "Yeah, but this is gonna be Riful's home now, so clear out!"

The green haired boy smile grew, "Is that so?"

"Dauf! Shut up! Or I'll break up with you." Riful hissed at the Awakened being towering over her. Ignoring his stuttering excuses, Riful turned back to Noah. If his story was true, then he was older than herself, and equally deserving of the title of Abyssal One. If she could get him on her side . . .

She pointed towards the boy, "If you can beat Dauf, I'll let you become my ally." Noah looked slightly amused at this as he considered it.

"Fine." Noah stepped forward off the pile of stone that used to be a door, flexing his hands as he did so.

Riful turned towards her upset subordinate, "You better try your best, Dauf." She jumped backwards, moving out of the way for Dauf and Noah.

The Awakened being made the first move, opening up his mouth. A thick metal rod appeared, and the former Number Three launched it. The rod flew surprisingly fast, plunging into the ground with ease. Dauf was about to gloat when he noticed that Noah was standing next to the rod, having not moved from his original position.

"Ehh?" Dauf opened his mouth again, firing several rods this time. The impact of the metal missiles kicked up dust and chunks of dirt, obscuring the mouth of the tunnel again. Dauf gave out a short laugh, confident that he had managed to hit the little boy this time.

His laugh was cut short when the dust settled and Noah was revealed, sitting calmly on one of the metal rods. He raised a pale green eye brow, as if to say, 'that's the best you can do?'

Dauf growled and stretched out his arms, generating smaller rods that pushed out of his fingertips, "Eat this!" He started to launch the rods, continuously generating and launching new ones.

Noah jumped to the ground, milliseconds before the tall rod that he had been sitting on was knocked to the ground. He walked forward, rods sinking into the ground around him, none of them hitting him as Noah moved.

Riful watched all of this, focusing almost all of her attention on the male Abyssal One. The little girl was sitting on a tree stump, feet dangling over the edge and chin perched on her hands. She said nothing as Dauf grew more and more frustrated with his inability to hit Noah.

Finally, Noah was standing in front of the enormous awakened being, staring up at him. Dauf grinned stupidly, "I got you now!"

The Awakened being raised up his hands and clenched them together into a fist. He brought them down, smashing them into the ground, making a huge crater in the earth. Dauf smiled at Riful, "I won!"

An amused male voice rang out "No, you didn't."

Dauf turned around and roared in frustration. The male Abyssal One was standing a foot in front of the former Number Three's clenched fists. The tiny little boy that he thought he'd crushed was still alive! He raised his hands again and brought them down, trying to hit the small boy.

Riful sighed and shook her head. Dauf was much too slow to hit Noah, and she still hadn't learnt much apart from the fact that the male Abyssal One was a manipulator and a sensor, most likely a defensive type as well. Any one could learn to be a sensor, but some Claymore's were naturally talented at it. Offensive types couldn't learn to be manipulators unfortunately, or Riful would have learnt it years ago

She watched as the two continued their cat and mouse game, with Dauf still unable to land a hit on the other boy.

Finally, it seemed like Noah had grown tired of the constant dodging. The Abyssal One's yoki suddenly surged, he stretched out his hand and his fingers lengthened, lashing out at Dauf, and cutting through his wrists like a hot knife through butter.

The massive Awakened One gave a yell of pain, and tears welled up in his eyes and started to drip down onto his face as his severed hands hit the ground with a crash. Noah's extended finger-tendrils coiled around him, before they darted out again, aiming straight for Dauf's head.

Dauf was saved by the timely intervention of Riful, who blocked Noah's attack with a mass of her own tendrils. She didn't wince as his tendrils cut through some of her own. The male Abyssal One turned to her, a slight smile on his face again.

Riful was still sitting down, her right arm shifted into its awakened state. Noah withdrew his own tendrils and said nothing as Riful's ribbon like tendrils picked up Dauf's severed hands and held them against his wrists for him to reattach. The female Abyssal One idly noted that the boy's yoki was fully suppressed again, so well that she couldn't even sense it at this range.

"I think you've proven yourself, and Dauf is my man, so I can't let you go and kill him. You know?" She smiled innocently, "You're pretty good, good enough to become my ally." She didn't want to seem too desperate, even though she did really need his allegiance.

Noah stood still and considered the offer, "I'll become your ally, but don't delude yourself into thinking that you're my superior." He ignored Dauf's pained sobbing as the Awakened being tried to reattach his hands.

Riful smiled joyfully, having not expected anything else. She beckoned him to sit beside her, "I think I should tell you more about what we'll be up against."

Noah dashed over to her and sat beside the girl, which made Riful wonder how fast he really was if he wasn't even using any yoki. Noah spoke up, "I've been inside that mountain ever since I Awakened, so forgive me if I don't know much about the current state of the world."

Riful beamed at him, withdrawing her tendrils and shifting her arm back into its human form. Dauf had managed to reattach his hands sufficiently enough so that Riful wouldn't need to hold them there any longer. "I'll be happy to explain it all to you! I'm former Number One, Riful, now known as Riful of the West, and this is my man, former Number Three, Dauf. My territory is the entire western part of the continent. There are two other Abyssal ones, Isley of the North-"

Noah interrupted her, "I know of Isley, Rigardo and Dauf. They were in the generation before mine, in the disastrous Mass Awakening."

Riful continued on as if she hadn't been interrupted, and Noah gave her an apologetic smile. "And Luciela of the South. Luciela awakened around thirty-something generations after I did, and my Awakening was in the first generation with no male warriors, a dozen generations after Isley Awakened."

She paused as Noah turned to her with a slightly confused look, "They don't use male warriors anymore?"

Riful shook her head, "You guys awaken too easily and too quickly to be very efficient, you know? In comparison, females can go for years without awakening while males rarely last over a year."

Noah gave a soft, "Ohhh," and motioned for Riful to continue.

"Luciela has no allies, aside from a small army of Awakened beings, none of which are single digits. Isley is the more dangerous Abyssal One by far. Aside from being the oldest and more experienced out of the four of us, Isley has the largest army and the most powerful subordinates."

Noah had all of his attention trained on Riful now. She continued on, "Rigardo follows Isley and commands his army, which, again, contains no single digits. However, recently he's acquired some one far more dangerous. A few months ago, a newly Awakened being started a rampage up in the north. Rigardo was sent out to destroy her, and was easily defeated. He would have been killed if Isley hadn't interfered. Isley and the Awakened being battled, and eventually he won, and he took her as his lover and his subordinate."

Noah tilted his head, "What's so dangerous about her?"

"She's known as the One Horned woman, and something isn't right about the story. Besides that, if she's powerful enough to defeat Rigardo and fight against Isley, then we should be cautious of her, you know?"

Riful grimaced slightly, Isley had two extremely strong subordinates, and an army, while she only had Dauf. The grimace was replaced with a slight smirk, but now she had the upper hand. With another Abyssal One as her ally, Isley would think twice about even stepping foot into her territory.

She stood up off the stump seeing Dauf shift into his human form. Noah stood up after her, waiting for the female Abyssal One to speak.

"I think it's time that we started to build our own army."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

**Yoki: The energy that all Yoma, Claymores and Awakened beings have. It is used to increase the strength and speed of all three types of beings. The bigger the amount of Yoki someone has generally explains how powerful they are.**

**Yoma: Brown skinned demons that have the same general shape as a human, but look demonic. Yoma feed on human guts and are stronger and faster than any human. Some rare Yoma have wings and can fly. As Yoma grow older they grow more powerful as well.**

**Claymore: A Claymore is a half-human, half-Yoma hybrid, designed to hunt and kill Yoma. Claymores have silver eyes, blonde hair, and serve the Organisation. They are ranked Number One to Number Forty Seven, with Number One being the most powerful and Number Forty Seven the weakest. Using their yoki causes a number of effects to appear. 10% causes their eyes to turn gold with a slit pupil, 30% the face contorts and the teeth turn into fangs, 50% muscles bulge and veins pop out all over, 80% the Claymore loses control and begins to Awaken. Claymores are called as such because of the huge swords they wield.**

**Awakened being: When a Claymore Awakens, they become a monster. Usually a dozen times bigger than their original form, an Awakened being is a former Claymore who has become a kind of mega Yoma. Awakened beings normally take a hunting party of four Claymores to kill. Awakened beings come in all shapes and sizes, with no two being the same.**

**Abyssal One: An Abyssal One is an Awakened being who was a former Number One. Nothing can compare to the power of an Abyssal one.**

**The Organisation: A mysterious organisation that creates and commands the Claymores, their motives are unknown.**

Please review and tell me what you think :) Also apart from the pairings mentioned in my profile, I don't think I'll add any others until the Timeskip Arc, which I will be writing, and it will be almost completely different from canon.

Phoenix


	2. Feeling Sorry

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore's

AN: There isn't actually that much enthusiasm for this story, but I'm still gonna go ahead and post it :) I just wish that some one would leave a review to tell me what they think, even if it's to say that it's shit and this story should be taken down. We're moving back into canon now too. Enjoy :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_I feel no sympathy.  
You live inside a cave  
You barely get by, the rest of us are trying  
There's no need to apologise  
I've got no time for feeling sorry._

_Well I try not to think of what might happen.  
When your reality it finally cuts through.  
Well as for me I got out and I'm on the road.  
The worst part is that this, this could be you._

_You know it too.  
You can't work from your cave.  
You're not getting any younger.  
Time keeps passing by  
but you waited a way.  
Its time to roll over._

_~Feeling Sorry, Paramore_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_(Eighteen years later)_

"Alrighty then. Let's add another pole now."

Dauf turned his head to look at Riful over his shoulder and nodded. He concentrated for a second, and a bump appeared on his shoulder. The bump grew upwards and started to turn grey. When the rod was long enough, Dauf yanked it out with an almost silent grunt.

He turned his head to look at the Claymore in front of him. She was chained to the cave ceiling by her hands, with her feet dangling off the ground. There were five poles, identical to the one Dauf was holding, already jutting out of her, having been stabbed through her stomach. There was blood dripping from the wounds, some dribbling out of her mouth and some seeping from a cut hidden by her hair.

She gritted her teeth as Dauf half shouted, "Here's the sixth one!" He stabbed the pole through her abdomen, twisting it cruelly. The Claymore jerked in pain, crying out as more blood spilled from her mouth.

Riful gave a sigh and sat up straighter in her padded chair, "This is so weird. It'd be really great if you could awaken soon . . ." She turned her head towards the door as she heard faint foot steps echoing down from a nearby corridor.

Dauf licked his lips as the Claymore twitched from the pain. He twisted the pole and pushed it in deeper, watching as more blood spill out around the rod. He laughed slightly as the woman tried to pull away, aggravating her other injuries as she did so.

"You're so stubborn." Riful sounded put out, and a little bit frustrated. "If you don't awaken soon, you're going to end up like her . . . with holes all over your body and dying . . ." She looked to the right, where the body of another Claymore lay on the ground. The corpse was filled with holes from where Dauf had been torturing her. "You sure you really want that?" That Claymore had been a stubborn one. Pity, she'd been Number Twenty Six too. Ah well.

The Claymore still chained up winced, "You little . . ." She was cut off by a groaning noise to her left.

There was another warrior, chained up as well with several poles through her body. She was twisting and throwing her head around, long pale blond hair whipping around her face. Thick veins were pulsing all over her body, her face was beginning to contort, and her teeth had become fangs.

"Don't!" The first Claymore yelled out to her, "Suppress it Katea!"

Riful, on the other hand, called out encouragements, "Come on, come on! That's the way to go!" The Abyssal One smiled, looking like an innocent little girl despite her words, "You'll feel all better after you Awaken."

Katea's struggles became stronger, and the other Claymore yelled out to her again, "Bear with it! Do you want to become a monster?"

She opened her mouth to say more, but all that emerged was a grunt of pain as Dauf stabbed her with another pole. "Who you calling a monster?" He looked at her with a glare, "Don't diss us, yo."

"I'll kill the ones that diss us first." He twisted the rod, feeling a deep satisfaction as blood gushed out of the wound.

The Claymore winced and visibly struggled to stay quiet. Riful wasn't pleased though, "Excuse me? What do you think you're doing?" Dauf turned his head to look at her, "Don't be adding poles without my permission."

Dauf stuttered a little, "But she's . . ."

They were cut off by a surge in Katea's yoki, which was now becoming visible due to its intensity. The Claymore bucked and screamed as her yoki began to turn red. Riful gave a little cheer as she leaned forwards, "All right!"

The other restrained Claymore watched in horror, forgetting her own pain as she watched her comrade Awaken. "Katea . . ."

The chains holding Katea to the ceiling broke as her hands twisted and transformed. The newly Awoken Claymore dropped to her hands and knees, unsteady on her feet. She was now much larger, with long, slender limbs and an extended neck. Her hair had disappeared as well.

"Get ready, Dauf!"

The male Awakened being's eyes glowed red, and his own yoki turned reddish black and menacing. His teeth turned into fangs and his skin turned hard and dull red. Thicker rods and poles jutted out of the back of his head and his elbows.

Finally both of them stopped shifting, both of them crouched down. They were both far larger than before, around the same height, but Katea's Awakened form was a mixture of glowing white armour and pitted, black muscles. The former Claymore was slim and lanky, with four blade-like wings on her back.

The Claymore still in human form looked on with wide eyes, "What . . . what's going on?"

The Two Awakened beings looked at each other, until Katea raised her head and looked towards the ceiling, breathing in and out slowly. Dauf lunged forwards and punched her in the face, causing her cheek to fracture.

The human Claymore's gasp of shock was drowned out by the female Awakened being's cry of pain.

Katea looked at Dauf with anger flashing through her golden eyes. The former Number Three chuckled, causing Katea to straighten up. With a battle cry, the wing-blades on her back extended, and the razor sharp tips punctured Dauf's armour. All four of the blades lodged in Dauf, but the male didn't even flinch.

He turned slightly towards Riful, who 'hmmmed' in thought, "How is she, Dauf?"

Dauf opened his mouth to answer, when he was cut off, "I think I should be the one to judge that."

All four of them turned to look at the figure in the door way, Claymore, Awakened beings and Abyssal One.

The Claymore's eyes widened when she saw the green haired boy standing there, 'I can't even sense him!'

Riful turned to the boy, "Noah, you made it!" She smiled happily, something which caused Dauf to grind his teeth together.

Noah scowled, "You know that I don't like watching your 'recruitment' attempts, Riful. And I came to have a look at Number thirty Two."

The Claymore gaped at the boy. What was going on here?

Riful clapped her hands together, "Great! Dauf, back off a little."

Dauf grumbled, but obeyed, shuffling back from the new Awakened One. The wing-blades were jerked free from the former Number Three, but Katea kept them extended, ready to be used on anyone who threatened her.

Noah stepped forwards, quickly walking over to the two Awakened beings, both of which towered over him. He stopped in front of the female, making eye contact with her. The other Claymore watched this in silence, still trying to work out what was going on.

The male Abyssal One started to circle Katea, examining her closely. The Awakened being's head twisted around, keeping an eye on the strange being. As she felt no threat towards her and no yoki, she retracted her wing-blades, but still kept an eye on the tiny boy.

The green haired boy started to speak, "How many is it now, Riful? Thirty five warriors that you've tried to force into Awakening?" He turned to the other Claymore, examining her as well. "Who's this?"

"Number Nine, Jean. She won't Awaken though, she's really stubborn."

Noah looked over at Riful, "That's because of your methods, Riful. Torturing some one isn't the best way to leave a good impression."

Riful pouted slightly, "But it's fun. And they never Awaken when I ask, so I don't really have a choice."

Noah shook his head, "Anyway, Number Thirty Two isn't any good. Her yoki isn't very big, and she's not built for speed or power, a warrior numbered in the teens could probably take her out with a few lower digits."

Dauf growled, "I coulda told you that!" He didn't like Noah. The male Abyssal One was too independent from Riful, and the former Number Three didn't trust the green haired boy. Plus he was always taking Riful's attention away from Dauf.

Noah looked at the red Awakened being, one eyebrow raised, as if to say, 'Could you really?'. Dauf growled at the silent taunt.

The enormous Awakened being would have retaliated, but Riful spoke. The female Abyssal One gave a small sigh "I guess I couldn't have expected anything better from a thirty-something. Okay, destroy it."

Dauf smiled, but Noah frowned at Riful. They all ignored the gasp that Jean gave. The reddish Awakened being took a step forward, but stopped when Noah stood in front of him, "Get outta my way, pip squeak."

"No, if she's going to be destroyed, I'll do it." Dauf looked at Riful for back up, but the little girl just shrugged. She didn't care who did it, as long as it was done.

Noah looked at Jean, "I'll make it quick." That simple statement shocked Jean into silence.

The green haired boy turned around to face Katea, whose wing-blades stirred. Before the former Number Thirty Two could even extend them, Noah attacked.

The Abyssal One's hand rippled and extended, forming one thick tendril. He whipped his arm across, and the tendril lashed out, almost too fast for Jean to follow. In a split second, it retracted and shifted back into a human hand.

Katea didn't make a sound, and her head slowly slipped from her extended neck, both body and skull falling to the ground with a wet thump.

Jean closed her eyes, tears sliding down her face as she muttered, "Katea . . ."

"I told you we needed some one with single digit status."

"Most single digits started off as lower ranked warriors, Riful. Some of the double digits have potential, you have to stop being so picky or you won't have an subordinates at all."

Jean looked up, subordinates? Why would an Awakened being be trying to gather more Awakened beings?

The little girl turned back to Jean, "Hurry up and awaken, Number Nine, Jean."

The Claymore glared at her, "Why you . . ."

She watched as the green haired boy looked over his shoulder. The Number Nine ranked warrior couldn't figure him out. He was a powerful Awakened being, but he was merciful towards Katea, and he disagreed with the torture. What was he?

Noah spoke, "Some one's here."

Riful looked at the tunnel too, "Oh, you're right. But it's much too soon for the girl who escaped to have called for reinforcements . . ." The little girl turned in her chair, grasping the back of it, "Wow, what a tiny yoki . . . it must be some low rank that sensed the yoki energy here, and decided to investigate. I don't think we can expect much of her, even if we got her to Awaken."

Noah frowned, but stayed silent as Riful looked over her shoulder, "Dauf, you can have her. Do whatever you want with her."

Dauf smiled, lips peeling back to reveal razor sharp teeth, "Really?" He started to chuckle, and grabbed one of the rods sticking out of Jean. The Awakened being gave it a twist, causing the Number Nine warrior's eyes to turn gold with a slit pupil as she lost control of some of her yoki.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Jean watched in agony-filled silence as the enormous Awakened being lumbered off, barely fitting through the tunnel.

She glanced over at the other two. The girl was still looking over the back of her chair, while the boy was looking at her. She couldn't read the emotion that filled his pale green eyes, and that confused her. He wasn't looking at her in hunger, anger, sick pleasure at her pain or even curiosity.

After a few minutes, Riful turned around and sat back down on her chair, looking at the ceiling. She might not be any where near as good as Noah at sensing yoki, but she could still easily keep track of Dauf and the Claymore. "She's doing pretty well."

Jean wasn't quite sure if the little girl was talking to her, or the boy, but she had a feeling it was her. If it weren't for her surging yoki, she might have been able to sense the battle taking place above them. She winced as veins started show on her face and arms.

The girl continued to talk, completely ignoring her, although the boy was still watching the Number Nine warrior. "Maybe it would've been better if I hadn't given her to Dauf and had him bring her back here."

"What are you . . . what are you up to?" Jean could barely speak, the pain combined with her growing yoki saw to that.

The Awakened being spoke in a sing song tone, "~That's-a-secret~!" She smiled, "I'll tell you if you Awaken and become my ally."

Jean gasped, "No way! Who wants to become a monster's ally . . .?"

Riful giggled into her hand, while Noah tilted his head at the Claymore. This one was interesting, very strong willed and righteous. The female Abyssal One brought her hands to her face, "Well, to the normal humans, you're pretty much a monster too."

Jean paused, taken back by the statement, "Awakened or half-human, half-yoma, there's not really much difference between the two. It's just about what side your conscience lies on."

The boy frowned at the girl, apparently not agreeing with her view. This only created more questions for Jean.

The girl smiled, "Neither is human though. That is a fact of the matter."

Jean scowled as the girl giggled again, "You're right, I may be the monster that you speak of . . . but since I was born as a human . . . I will live as a human . . . and I want to die as a human. That is the only truth to me."

The girl smiled joyfully and leaned forwards, "I really love people like you." Jean saw her eyes flicker over to Noah, who was leaning against the wall, looking at the ceiling. Maybe the reason that the boy didn't like torture was because that was how the girl had gotten him to join her? It couldn't have been the way that he was Awakened, because by the time that females were mainly used as warriors, there were almost no male warriors left.

"Now, I really want you to join me." The girl tilted her head to the side as Jean closed her eyes, fighting against a larger surge in her yoki.

Riful looked at Noah again. The male Abyssal One didn't like the torture, or the way that Riful and Dauf tried to get the Claymores to Awaken.

The green haired boy may have been one of the most powerful beings in the world, but he was such goody-goody two-shoes. He didn't kill humans and he didn't like torture. He could be a right sadist in a a fight though, oddly enough. Although that was mostly when he was hunting other Awakened beings to feed on.

She'd come to the conclusion that the other Abyssal One had retained far too much of his humanity and morals from his time as a Claymore. Why else would he seal himself away for so long, and refuse to eat humans? She had to admit though, the time he'd spent training in his seclusion under the mountains had paid off. He was a good ally though, so she couldn't really hold it against him, even though she didn't understand his motives.

She watched Noah's eyes flicker to the left slightly, and was about question him when she felt it too. A strong yoki had entered the mountain, and was heading down the tunnel towards Dauf and the other Claymore. The Abyssal One wondered how long Noah had been able to sense the Claymore for, he'd never told her the limit of his yoki sensing ability.

Jean opened her eyes at the sound of Riful's voice, "Oh my. Now a really strong one has arrived."

A few seconds later, Noah's head jerked forwards, and Riful heard a small mutter, "A manipulator . . ." Her eyes widened in understanding. One had to be an extremely powerful sensor to be able to manipulate an opponents yoki.

Noah smirked at the shorter girl, "Looks like she detected you, Riful."

Riful pouted and stood from her chair, "I think we should go meet the people that rudely invaded our home." Both Abyssal Ones walked out into the tunnel, but Riful left some parting words to the struggling Claymore. "Hurry up and Awaken before I get back, Number Nine, Jean."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Please leave a review :) The next chapter will be up Friday.

Phoenix


	3. Fight Fire With Fire

Disclaimer: I will never own Claymore.

AN: Here is the third chapter, please review and let me know what you think.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_We shall die  
Time is like a fuse, short and burning fast  
Armageddon is here, like said in the past_

_Fight fire with fire  
Ending is near  
Fight fire with fire  
Bursting with fear_

_Soon to fill our lungs the hot winds of death  
The gods are laughing, so take your last breath_

_~Fight Fire With Fire, Apocalyptica_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

"Don't cry; it makes you look pathetic. Weeping will just make your ugly face look even uglier."

Galatea opened her mouth to say more, but shut it as the strong presence she'd sensed earlier appeared behind Number Forty Seven.

"He really is stupid, isn't he?"

Both Claymores turned to face the pile of rubble behind Clare, whose legs still weren't fully healed. They were both shocked to see the little girl sitting there, although Galatea was less surprised by her being there.

Galatea scowled, 'She came out faster than I'd expected . . .'

They were both shocked when another form appeared, a young male teen this time. Galatea was speechless, she couldn't even sense his yoki at this distance! Her surprise only grew when the boy spoke.

"I like the long haired one, she's pretty funny." The boy smiled slightly and both of the Claymore's were too stunned to say anything about the comment.

The girl gave a quick glance to her companion, before her attention was brought to the still crying Awakened being, "Excuse me, Dauf? What are you doing?" The girl started to shake her head, "It's exactly because he does things like this, that I can't take pride in him being my man, you know?"

The boy beside her shook his head, "Find yourself a new man, who isn't such a moron then, and save yourself the embarrassment."

Dauf ignored the boy, "Well, I can't land my punches on this one. So . . ."

The girl cut him off with a raised voice, "How can you not land your punches? What are you, stupid?"

The boy beside her muttered something, but it was loud enough for both of the Claymores to hear, "He hasn't learnt since last time, so he obviously is stupid."

Dauf didn't hear the boy, "It's true! So, I . . ."

The little girl let out a huff, "Fine, let me tell you how to land your punches for sure. So, make sure you land them next time, ok?"

The enormous Awakened being nodded, tears still streaming down his face. The girl raised a finger in the air, "Throw your punches with all your strength and will." Galatea glared at her slightly over her shoulder, while Clare gave a soft gasp. Noah smirked slightly, Riful had pestered him until he'd told her how to fight the abilities of a manipulator. Against a Claymore, she'd have no problem, no matter what their rank was. Even against a single digit Awakened being, they would only be able to throw off her aiming. Unfortunately for her though, she wasn't strong enough to completely throw off Noah's manipulation.

Another way to stop some one from manipulating you was to flare and contort your yoki. Doing that prevented the being from getting a grip on your yoki. Unfortunately, it took more skill than most Claymore's and Awakened beings possessed.

Dauf hadn't listened when she had told him to teach the dim-witted Awakened being, and now it was coming back to bite him in the arse.

The green haired boy caught the smug glance that Riful sent him as she paused, something Galatea noticed as well. It only took a few moments for the Number Three to work out why the girl had looked at the boy like that, and when she did, her eyes widened.

"No, but . . . I've been doing that all this time, and I can't hit her at all."

The girl pointed at him, "Quit talking and just do it! Let me say this, miss again and I'm breaking up with you."

The two Claymores were dumbfounded by the seemingly innocent threat, but the Awakened being took it seriously, "T-that's harsh," He muttered. He raised a fist and held it for a second, "Damn it! This is all because of you!" Fuelling his punch with anger, he struck at the irritating Claymore. Dauf was dumb-founded when the blow went on target, and the long-haired Claymore was forced to jump out of the way. "Oh, my punch didn't change course this time . . ." He muttered to himself.

The Awakened being turned and tried to backhand the Claymore, who pushed off the wall to avoid his fist. Dauf opened his mouth, and fired a barrage of smaller rods at the girl in mid air, who quickly swung her sword and started to deflect the missiles.

Clare called out her comrade's name in concern, "Galatea!" The Number Forty Seven warrior turned when she heard the girl speaking again.

"Yes, that's the way to go, Dauf. Had you done that from the start, you wouldn't have lost a hand, you know?"

Clare angrily stared at the girl, "You . . ." The boy sitting down said nothing, watching the fight between Dauf and Galatea. "What did you do?"

The girl smiled and stretched out her arms in a shrug, "I did absolutely nothing. She can control other people's yoki, you know?"

Clare gasped quietly as her suspicions were confirmed. To have that much skill as a sensor . . . it was unbelievable.

"But . . ."

Dauf opened his mouth and launched another barrage of smaller rods at the Claymore, who was still deflecting all of them easily.

"She just tweaks it to a small extent. She can't stop the action itself."

The boy chose that moment to speak, "With enough practice, she'll be able to get to the point where she can control their actions to a much greater degree."

The brown haired girl turned to the boy, a cheerful smile on her face, "Like you, Noah?"

Clare flinched slightly when the boy nodded at the girl, smirking a little. The girl turned back to the fight, where Dauf's mouth had been closed while he was launching his rods, causing them to jut of through his cheeks. "So, Dauf's anger-filled, full-strength attack is something she can't do anything about."

Galatea jumped towards Dauf, aiming for his face. The Awakened being swung a punch at her, which she desperately tried to divert. She failed and Dauf's fist crashed into her like a ton of stone. The Claymore went flying to the ground, landing with a shout of pain.

Dauf brought his wrist up and fired a large rod at the downed warrior, striking her even as Clare shouted, "Dodge it!" Galatea spat up blood as the rod bounced away, clattering into the darkness.

Dauf grinned, readying another large rod to fire at the Claymore, "Where should I aim for next?" Galatea struggled to rise to her feet, trying to ignore the pain that her chest and stomach were giving her.

Riful watched on, "The outcome of this fight has been determined."

Noah shook his head, "I wouldn't be so sure . . ."

Riful was about to make a retort when an outburst of yoki caught her attention. Clare was on her hands and knees, yoki visible in a whirlwind around her. "Hey, you. It's ok to release your yoma powers to heal your leg, but you're past your limits, you know?"

Dauf laughed, "Next, head shot coming up!" He launched the rod, confident that the Claymore could do nothing to escape.

Clare opened her eyes, and disappeared in a blur, dashing towards Galatea. The rod struck the ground and buried itself in deep, but there weren't any splattered pieces of Claymore flying around. The Claymores appeared behind Dauf, both of them mostly unharmed.

Riful's eyes opened wide, while Noah smirked beside her. He'd had a feeling that the Claymore was something special, both of them were, just like the one down stairs. His smirk slipped a little bit when he thought of Jean. Hopefully, she Awakened and joined Riful. The alternative wasn't a pleasant thing to think about.

His gaze was drawn to the Claymores, one of which was beginning to Awaken. It was strange, the yoki in her sword arm was different to the rest of her yoki. Noah frowned as he tried to work out why that was.

Galatea looked at Clare from where she was sprawled on the floor, "You . . ."

The Number Forty Seven warrior ignored her, to busy trying to pull back her yoki. It was mostly surging from her right arm, Irene's arm. "Turn back. Damn it! Come on! Turn back!"

Dauf turned towards them, "Bastards!" He raised his remaining fist to strike them down.

"Stop!" "Wait, Dauf!" Both of the Abyssal ones called out, united in their desire to see this play out. Dauf paused, not happy, but still obeying Riful.

Clare continued to mutter to herself, trying to turn back and pull back her yoki. Beside her, Galatea closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling Clare's yoki and focussing on it.

Riful grinned, "Almost . . ."

"I can't . . . any more . . ." Clare raised her sword jerkily to her throat, wanting to finish it before she lost her mind and Awakened.

There was a brilliant shimmer of white light, and suddenly Clare's yoki retreated and she was back to normal. Everyone but Galatea stared in shock.

The Number Forty Seven warrior turned to her much higher ranked comrade, who spoke as she slumped slightly, "I . . . can't believe that I really brought you back."

Clare blinked in shock, "You did that . . . just now, Galatea?"

But the third ranked warrior shook her head slightly, "I just tried to pull you back. I can see why the Organisation wanted to keep an eye on you, and had me go around looking for you. What are you?"

The two warriors stared into each others eyes, neither of them backing down, before a voice rang out and interrupted them.

"Aww, man! What gives? I thought she was going to Awaken." The girl pouted for a second, but suddenly cheered up. "A high-numbered warrior who can manipulate yoki, and a mysterious warrior who can turn back after crossing her limits. I'm loving you two!" The two warriors shared a glance, both confused by the rapid change in attitude by the girl.

The girl smiled, "I'll let you two become my allies." As she finished talking, Riful stopped trying to hide her yoki, allowing the power of it to be sensed by the two Claymores.

Clare shivered, "What . . . is this huge and monstrous yoki? What is she?"

Galatea turned towards the lower ranked warrior, "In the long history of warriors, there have been three disastrous cases where the Number One ranked warrior has Awakened. Once during the age of male warriors, and twice during the age of female warriors. They were called the three powers, becoming the strongest of all Awakened beings, and they spread out across the continent."

The girl was smirking during this story, and the realisation of what she was sent shivers up both Claymore's spines, "One to the North, one to the South, and one to the West. Since they knew of each other's powers, they avoided unnecessary conflict with each other. From then on, they never appeared in the open again, and such was the depth of their power, that they were called the Abyssal ones."

"Abyssal ones?" Clare turned to look at the little girl again, wondering how strong the girl really was. The unwanted comparison to Priscilla ran through Clare's mind, and she frowned.

Galatea stared at the Abyssal One, "Correct, yes? Abyssal One, Riful of the West."

"Riful . . . of the West?"

"She was the very first Number One ranked female warrior in the Organisation. She reached the pinnacle at a very young age, and unleashed all of her powers."

Riful continued to smile at them, "You sure know a lot even though you're so young. There are some inaccuracies in your story though. It's not like we avoided conflict. It just so happened that the areas that we settled down in didn't over lap with each other."

Riful's smile suddenly widened, "And there aren't three Abyssal Ones."

Suddenly, a colossal amount of yoki, even more than Riful was giving off, began to emanate from the boy sitting next to her, causing Clare and Galatea's eyes to widen in shock and fear.

"There are four."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Please review and tell me what you think.


	4. The Scientist

Disclaimer: Do not own.

AN: Here's the fourth chapter, please enjoy and review.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_I was just guessing at numbers and figures,  
Pulling your puzzles apart.  
Questions of science, science and progress,  
Do not speak as loud as my heart._

_And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me,  
Oh and I rush to the start.  
Running in circles, chasing tails,  
And coming back as we are._

_Nobody said it was easy,  
oh it's such a shame for us to part.  
Nobody said it was easy,  
No-one ever said it would be so hard._

_I'm going back to the start._

_~The Scientist, Coldplay_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Galatea was the first to speak, "But, that's impossible! The Organisation would know if there was another Abyssal One!"

Riful opened her mouth to speak, but Noah waved her off. The male Abyssal One straightened up, "I was the Number One in the generation after the first generation's Mass Awakening. Back then, the ranks were being shifted around from week to week, warriors were Awakening or being killed one after another."

The green haired boy tilted his head, "When I Awakened, no one even noticed, they'd all thought I had died in battle. Because I didn't claim territory or start a rampage like the others, I didn't attract any attention from the Organisation either. Instead, I went into seclusion and no one was the wiser about my existence. Riful found me eighteen years ago and convinced me to become her ally."

The two Claymores took a few seconds to absorb that piece of information. Finally, Galatea looked up, having calmed herself down, "Why have each of you started movements again recently? Not just you two, but the ones in the North and the South as well. Each of you are beginning to gather more Awakened allies. What are you four planning on doing?" Clare stayed quiet, curious as to where this was going.

Riful looked up to the ceiling in thought, "Well, the guy up the North is picking a fight with us. It's like . . . the guy up North has gotten conceited after getting that woman."

Clare sat up straighter, something about that statement drew her attention, "That woman?"

Riful looked at her, "Yes, an Awakened being that was having a rampage up North. The guy up there battled her, defeated her and made her his woman" Riful raised a finger in the air. "They say that her true form is that of a One Horned woman."

Clare's eyes widened, 'Priscilla!'

"So, heck. I was bored, too. So I decided to answer his call."

Dauf gave his only contribution to the conversation so far, "Yup, yup."

Riful smiled at him, "So I decided to stock up on some pawns, and with Noah here, there's no way that man and his woman can beat us!"

Clare bowed her head, and muttered, "Where . . . is she . . ."

Riful leant forwards, "What was that? You talked so softly, I couldn't hear you." Noah tilted his head at the fluctuating yoki of the warrior.

Clare looked up at her, glowing gold eyes penetrating the gloom of the tunnel, "Tell me the name of the man in the North. I'm going to kill his woman."

Riful smiled slyly, "Oh, you know her?" Personally, Noah didn't think that this was some one who she should be playing games with, but Riful was a big girl, she could take care of herself.

The Claymore glared at her, her face in an impressively blank mask despite the yoki she was releasing, "Don't ask me anything! You just tell me the name of the man in the North and his location!"

Riful frowned a little, "Wow, that's some attitude. Hmm, let's see . . ." Riful brought a hand to her chin, ignoring the sharp look from Noah. She raised a finger, "If you manage to hit me even once, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Clare didn't even nod before she disappeared, leaving several puffs of dust in her wake as she dashed towards Riful. The Claymore jumped into the air and swung her sword in a massive over head swing at the Abyssal One. Clare's blade was stopped by Dauf's hand, a mere two feet away from Riful.

The two Abyssal ones looked up at the enraged Claymore calmly, while Riful spoke, "Too bad, that was close."

Dauf slammed his hand into the ground, causing it to crumble under his powerful blow. Even so, he still hadn't managed to crush Clare.

Riful didn't move, "Above."

The short haired warrior plunged down from the ceiling, and was again blocked by Dauf's hand, this time by his palm. Her blade sank through his hand, emerging a few inches in front of Riful's face. Noah had to respect the short haired girl, even if she was going berserk, she was still getting closer and closer to hitting the Abyssal One.

"You fucking-" Dauf slammed his hand into the wall, wincing when the stab wound flared with pain.

Riful smiled as if she was having the time of her life, "Now, now, it's no time to be in pain."

Clare appeared behind Riful, ready to strike the little girl's head from her shoulders. Dauf growled at her, "Don't be getting cocky there, you fool!" The former Number Three opened his mouth and fired a large pole at the Claymore, who was shoved backwards into the wall.

Riful didn't even turn around to look at her, "Hmm, I see. Rather than just surpassing your limits by mistake, your power and speed will be greater if you surpass your limits willingly."

The dust cleared to show Clare, holding the rod back with her sword alone. Noah could feel her yoki surging harder and faster, showing that she was close to Awakening now.

The Forty Seven ranked warrior gave a grunt, and with a huge amount of effort, shoved the rod back, sending it flying towards Dauf. The Awakened being didn't have time to dodge before it smashed into him, sending him tumbling backwards.

Clare raised her sword over her head, preparing to slice Riful's head off, "Care to answer my question now?"

The Abyssal One tilted her head slightly, "Hey, I haven't gotten slashed yet."

"If you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish." And with that, she swung her sword down.

The Claymore was mystified when she was left holding nothing but air. She heard Galatea's voice from beside her, "Gosh, you are such a problem child that needs looking over." Galatea used her free hand to grab Clare by the collar and throw her over the two Abyssal ones.

Noah looked on in amusement. Yep, he really liked this one.

Clare landed on her hands and knees, facing the two former Claymores, but before she could get back to her feet, Galatea appeared above her and shoved her head down onto the ground.

Clare's yoki settled as she lost her grip on it, and her face and body returned to normal. Riful put her hands behind her head, "Aww, and it was so close, too. What a pity."

Clare shook her head clear as Galatea let her go, "What was I . . ."

She had expected Galatea to answer, so when Noah did so instead, it came as a complete surprise, "You lost it, and almost started to Awaken."

Galatea nodded in agreement, hiding her surprise, " I just tried to pull you back, the rest was you. You'd be doing exactly what she wants though, if you Awaken to her cheap taunts." Noah smiled slightly at her, while Riful pouted.

The Number Three ranked warrior stood up, "We'll take down that sasquatch first. If neither of the Abyssal Ones intend on fighting, then we may have a chance to get out of here alive."

Clare turned her head slightly to look at Galatea as the other Claymore continued on, "For that, we need one more force with us."

"One more?"

"One that can strike her sword into that iron-hard body of his. We need the power of the warrior trapped below us, Number Nine, Jean."

Noah tilted his head, extending his senses towards the third remaining Claymore within the mountain. What he sensed made him both impressed and made him a little bit apprehensive. Despite the massive amount of stress on her body and mind, Jean still hadn't Awakened, even with her yoki surging immensely. He wondered if the other Claymores would reach her in time.

Clare stared at Galatea, "Number Nine, Jean?"

"She's in a very unstable condition. It wouldn't surprise me if she Awakened any moment now. She must have been tortured a lot, both physically and mentally." Galatea noticed that when she mentioned the torture, Noah looked away, as if in guilt. She couldn't read his emotions through his yoki to be sure any more, as he'd already suppressed it again. Interesting . . .

She kept speaking, putting the matter to the back of her mind, "Considering her personality, she would rather choose her own death over Awakening, but apparently she's in a position where she can't end her own life." Galatea started to walk forwards, drawing her sword as she did so. "I'll handle this guy. You head down and rescue Jean."

Clare stared at the Number Three warrior, "And if it's too late, end Jean's life with your own hands. Go! We don't have much time"

Clare nodded and turned around to run deeper into the mountain. Noah made a split second decision and ran after her, quickly catching up and matching speed with the Claymore. Riful stared in bemusement after her ally, but shrugged it off. If he wanted to watch the short haired girl cut off her comrade's head, that was his choice.

Dauf growled and tried to hit Clare with a barrage of poles, but Galatea easily deflected them all. "Take this!" Dauf stretched out a hand to try and crush her, but she jumped out of the way in time, leaping in to the air above the Awakened being's head. "Why you-"

Dauf's words were cut off as Galatea began her assault, slicing at his face as fast as she could. The former Number Three groaned in pain, but none of the cuts penetrated his skin. The Claymore's eyes turned gold, with a slit pupil, and she appeared standing on Dauf's shoulders, her sword resting in the Awakened being's mouth against his cheek.

Galatea's arm muscles bulged and flexed, and she whipped her sword across, slicing through Dauf's cheek fibres. She jumped down to the ground as blood gushed from the wound, smiling slightly as the Awakened being yelled in pain.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Several floors below, Clare and Noah dropped down a hole in the floor, dashing forwards. The Claymore kept glancing at the Abyssal One, wondering what the former Number One was doing. If he had come to stop her, then he would have done so already. So, why was he here?

She glanced at Noah as she heard him speak, "You should hurry, Jean doesn't have long."

Clare looked forwards, frowning, 'Jean.'

_MINI BREAK_

"You bitch . . ." Dauf's words were slurred, speech hampered by his severed cheek.

Galatea turned around slowly, arms and legs bulging with veins popping out sporadically. "This goes against my policies regarding beauty, so I don't really do this often . . ."

She turned around fully to face Dauf, and the huge Awakened being shifted apprehensively. The Claymore's muscles were much larger than before, and her face was twisting and beginning to contort. "The rate that my physical power rises from releasing my yoki is the highest among all Forty Seven warriors. Sorry, but you'll have to deal with this ugly face of mine for a little while longer."

Dauf leaned forwards, "Damn bitch, toying with me . . . I'm going to make you pay. I'm going to kill you!"

Over on her perch, Riful smirked, "She's only trying to buy time."

_MINI BREAK_

Noah and Clare ran into the cavern, but both of them stopped when they saw what had become of the Number nine ranked warrior.

Jean was still chained to the roof by her hands, and both Claymore and Abyssal One could hear her groans, filled with pain.

"This . . . is . . ." Clare's voice was quiet, her eyes wide open with horror.

Jean had almost completely Awakened, body and mind pushed to the edge by the pain. Her body had shifted, skin turning sickly white, while her legs had melted together and created a tail-like shape, which split into several tendrils. Her hair had morphed into a sort of crown, flaring out around her head.

Wings had grown from her back, a pair of magnificent shimmering blue-green wings, formed by a web of white tendrils. She looked like a butterfly, just hatched from her cocoon.

Clare walked forwards sword in her hand, "Damn it! It's too late . . ."

She jerked her head up when a voice broke into her thoughts, "Kill me . . . please . . . hurry . . ."

Clare flinched as Noah appeared beside her, "Her mind . . . it's still human, even though her body's already Awakened." Clare looked at him, confused by the awe that she heard in his voice, and the way that he was staring at Jean with fascination.

The Awakened being's hands unclenched, struggling against the chains weakly, "I can't . . . suppress it any longer . . ."

Clare readied her sword, while Noah watched. Riful might be upset, but she'd get over it. Jean probably wouldn't have joined Riful once she Awakened, the Number Nine was too strong willed obey someone who forced her to become a monster.

"It's ok . . . I can . . . die as a human now." Tears began to run down her face from her golden slit-pupil eyes.

Clare narrowed her eyes, and leaped forwards as Jean closed hers. She landed on top of Jean and wrapped her arms around the Number Nine's head, "Come back! You can do it!"

"What . . . are you saying? Once we . . . go over the limit . . .there's no way . . . we can turn back . . ."

Yoki started to flare around the two, swirling around and around, "Don't worry, you can do it! The chances of turning back to normal after going over the limit aren't zero!"

Fresh tears blossomed in Jeans eyes, "Im-impossible. Hurry . . . and . . . kill me."

Clare just gripped harder, "Don't give up, you can do it!" She synchronised her yoki with the other Claymore, trying to pull her back. She could distantly feel another yoki, stabilising her own, helping her turn Jean back to normal.

Jean managed to say one last thing, "Please . . . let me die . . . as a human."

There was an enormous explosion of white light, and even Noah had to shield his eyes. Upstairs Riful tilted her head, ignoring the clanging and crashing of the battle raging in front of her, "She Awakened. Looks like they were too late after all."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Thanks for reading and please review.

Phoenix


	5. Stand My Ground

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Please enjoy and review :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_Though this might just be the ending  
Of the life I held so dear  
But I won't run  
There's no turning back from here_

_Stand my ground I won't give in  
No more denying  
I gotta face it  
Or close my eyes  
And hide the truth inside  
If I don't make it  
Someone else will  
Stand my ground_

_All I know for sure  
Is I'm trying  
I will always stand my ground _

_~Stand My Ground, Within Temptation_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Jean knelt on the ground, examining her hand. Her completely human hand, "My fingers . . . they're . . ." She stayed kneeling on the ground, completely naked, entranced by the feeling of being human again.

The, once again human, Claymore didn't even notice anyone else in the room, not until she felt a weight drape over her shoulders. She glanced backwards to see the Claymore who had brought her back, along with the boy from before, the one who had given Katea a quick death.

"You're half Awakened. I don't know too much about it, but for now, you get to remain as a human."

Jean narrowed her eyes as she tried to remember what had happened, "It as if something something was pulling at me."

She looked over her shoulder at Clare, glancing at the boy as she did so. Clare spoke quietly, "I tried what Galatea did with me. It's a miracle that it went smoothly, although it felt like something was helping me." They both looked at Noah, who looked straight back at them unflinchingly.

"I was curious to how the long haired warrior managed to turn you back, and the best way to learn something is to do it."

Jean stood up and turned to him, "You have my thanks, both of you. I owe you two my life."

Clare drew her attention by handing the Number Nine ranked warrior her sword, "I need your help, that's why I came here."

Jean looked at her, eyes wide open, "Me?"

The ceiling rumbled and shook, small chunks of rock clattering to the floor. Clare looked up to the roof, hints of worry dancing across her face."Not good. Galatea can't hold out much longer."

Jean strapped the cloak closed, fastening it around her neck, "My name is Jean, and I'll be glad to help you."

_MINI BREAK_

Panting hard, 'God Eye' Galatea slumped to her knees, panting hard. She was bleeding from a cut above her eye, and there was a thick pole jutting through the side of her abdomen. She'd had to stop using her yoki, or risk beginning to Awaken.

Riful was sitting on her rocky seat, legs swing back and forth like the child she appeared to be, "You know, I thought you did rather well."

Dauf laughed, even though his body was covered in hundreds of scratches and scars. Despite the number of them the only real wound that he had was his missing hand, nothing else had managed to penetrate his skin. The cuts that the Claymore had managed to land on his weak spots were shallow and easily healed.

Riful leaped from her seat and stood in front of the Awakened being, "You nearly went all out in releasing your powers. At that rate, you'd have almost gone over your limit. Things like that are what I expected of the highest ranked warriors."

Galatea was apparently ignoring her, but the Abyssal One continued on regardless, "Your release of yoma powers was very impressive and so was your control of it." Riful's face became solemn and serious, "Now then, can I have you Awaken?"

When the warrior said nothing, the girl sighed and looked up at Dauf, "I'm counting on you, Dauf." And with that she calmly walked back to her rocky seat, and jumped back onto it.

Galatea finally looked up as Dauf loomed closer, "God . . . you guys are so slow."

Riful tilted her her head, "Huh?" There was some strange yoki in the floor below . . .

The floor between Galatea and Dauf ruptured and crumbled, breaking upwards as Jean and Clare jumped out. They landed beside the wounded Number Three, "Sorry, it took me a while. Are you ok?"

Noah jumped out of the hole, and walked over to Riful. She looked at him, smiling in that innocent way of hers, "Did that sate your curiosity?"

Noah smiled slightly at her, "In a way, yes."

Riful gave him a bemused look, and turned back to the fight.

Galatea closed her eyes for a second, "I can't say that I'm fine, but I'll do what I can."

Riful smiled joyfully, "Wow, you turned her back, as well? You guys sure do some interesting things." She glanced to the side, looking at her fellow Abyssal One. She wondered if he'd given them a helping hand, but Riful dismissed the thought. It didn't matter in the end.

Galatea stood, slowly pulling the rod out of her side. The wound would heal fairly quickly, she was a defensive type after all . . .

Jean stood in front of her fellow Claymores, holding her sword firmly in both hands. "If you want me to hold them off while you guys run, I'll gladly accept the job. I owe you my life. Use my life as you wish, when you wish."

Noah stared at her in amazement, smirking slightly. Oh, Riful wouldn't be happy that this one got away. He had to say, that sort of loyalty and devotion in people like that were so rare to find. The Abyssal One's eyes caught Jean's and he saw the promise in them.

He tilted his head slightly before closing his eyes. He didn't know why he'd helped Number Forty Seven bring the Awakened Claymore back, and now she had the silly notion that she owed him her life!

Noah could only hope that she decided he wasn't worth her loyalty because he wasn't human. He could see that she felt the same way to the other short haired Claymore, and the Abyssal One could only hope that she gave her loyalty to Number Forty Seven, and ignored him. Noah was fully capable of protecting himself and if Jean got hurt trying to repay the 'debt' . . .

Galatea and Clare walked past Jean, standing between the Number Nine ranked warrior and Dauf, "This adversary isn't someone that you can do anything about by yourself, no matter how hard you try. Number Forty Seven and I will stop that big guys movements. You concentrate on striking your sword into his throat."

Both of them readied their swords, "It's the perfect job for you, as you have the fastest and most powerful strike attack of all the warriors." Noah leaned forwards, curious about Jean's special attack. It was always interesting to see the special attacks of different warriors. Special attacks, while extremely rare in Noah's own time as a Claymore, were so much more common here in this time.

Clare's next words made him smile slightly, "Use your life for yourself, ok?." This group of warriors was an interesting bunch.

Riful leant her hands on her chin, "Now then . . ."

Galatea shouted, the first time she'd done so since entering the mountain, "Here we go!"

She and Clare dashed forwards, jumping over Dauf's wild swings. The Claymores started slashing and cutting every spot they could reach, trying to concentrate their attacks on Dauf's weak points.

Noah turned slightly towards Riful, "Are you learning anything, Riful?" He sounded amused, and Riful pouted slightly at the insinuation that she was stupid. Clare jumped over one over Dauf's wild punches, and Galatea's eyes turned gold, her yoki reaching out to mesh with the Awakened being's. Dauf's next punch fell short of reaching the Number Three female, and she leaped into the air.

"Of course. If there's more than two people attacking Dauf, he loses concentration, and the long haired girl's skill becomes usable again." She smiled sweetly at Noah, silently daring him to say anything else

Noah looked at her, even more amused now, but wisely didn't say anything. Riful could be vicious when provoked, which made provoking her so much more entertaining. It still wasn't clear which one of them would win in a fight, as Riful still hadn't seen Noah's fully Awakened form yet, even after eighteen years.

Riful smiled again, and turned back to the fight, swinging her legs again like a small child.

Noah was spellbound watching the battle between the huge Awakened being and the three warriors. On one hand, there was Jean, whose yoki was doing a strange spiral in her right arm. It was probably the lead up to her special attack, and he didn't really want to miss it. Number Forty Seven, on the other hand, was performing one of the most interesting special attacks the Abyssal One had ever seen. It was like she was allowing her right arm to almost Awaken, and then just let it go berserk. It was strange though, the yoki was different in her right arm, and the yoki emanating from her body was eerily familiar . . .

Finally, Jean's attack was ready, "Highest number of rotations reached . . . I will strike him with every ounce of my strength!"

Galatea, eyes glowing gold with the use of her yoki, jumped onto Dauf's hand, and using two of the Awakened beings rods, pinned his hand down to the ground. On the other side, Clare did the same using her sword. Galatea turned to the third warrior, and yelled out to her, "Now! Strike him, Jean!"

The Number nine warrior nodded, and her eyes turned gold as she used her yoki to power her jump. She leaped straight for Dauf's head, cloak fluttering around her body.

The huge Awakened being smirked, and tore his hands free, lifting both of the Claymores into the air as he did so. He slammed them together, driving the air from their lungs and dropping them to the floor.

Jean narrowed her eyes, and stretched out her sword arm. The Number Nine ranked warrior's sword began to rotate at an astounding speed. Dauf gave a stupid grin and put a hand in front of his face, confident that her strange attack wouldn't breach his iron hard skin.

His eyes widened in astonishment and pain as Jean's drilling sword cut through his hand, absolutely destroying his thumb and forefinger as it went. The only thing that kept her from taking his head along with his fingers, was Dauf's other arm flailing around.

Jean was smacked out of the air and sent hurtling to the ground, landing with a pained groan. Noah sighed, it looked like all three of them were down for the count. A pity, he'd been hoping that they would manage to kill Dauf, the insufferable moron.

Riful started giggling next to him, "And the fight is over . . ."

Dauf was crying again, "Dangerous . . . that move's dangerous!"

The little girl just ignored him, lost in her own little world, "It was so intense; I thoroughly enjoyed it!"

Noah rolled his eyes. While he liked a fight just as much as any Awakened being, a battle where his lover basically lost both hands didn't sound like something he'd find 'enjoyable'.

They both ignored Dauf's whining, "Comrades are very important, after all. I would love it if you could share some of that friendship with me."

Noah turned to look at her, "Riful, Dauf's your comrade and look at the way you treat him."

She glared at him lightly, "Dauf's my man, it's another thing entirely." The Abyssal One sighed, "And now you've ruined the moment."

Dauf turned towards them, "Look . . . my hands . . ."

Riful glared at him too, causing the enormous Awakened being to flinch, "Dauf, shut up already! You're not helping the sentimentalism here either." She sighed again, "For all of your massive strength, you sure take a long time to regenerate. Ah well, at least it's all settled now. All that's left is to take some time and make them Awaken-"

She looked up as Noah poked her in the side, ready to reprimand him, when he pointed over to the three downed warriors.

To her amazement, the warrior in the strange armour was on her feet again, panting heavily. The blonde haired girl had blood running down both sides of her face, but she was gripping her sword tightly.

"What's wrong with you?" The Claymore continued to glare at the female Abyssal One, "Please don't attack, it's clear we won." No one in the cavern was fooled by Riful's helpless little girl attempt. "It's not my objective to kill you guys. I just want to inflict pain so that you Awaken."

Noah rolled his eyes again, oh yes, Riful, torture and then becoming a monster, instead of death? Such a convincing argument.

Riful put her hands together, as if in prayer, "Please, be understanding. I really don't want to kill you."

Clare noticed that Noah hadn't said anything, apart from rolling his eyes occasionally when Riful was talking, "Jean, are you still alive?"

She didn't turn around to look at the Number nine warrior, but still heard her pained voice, "Yeah, somewhat."

Clare narrowed her eyes slightly, "Can you do that move of yours one more time?"

Jean raised her head off the ground and opened her eyes. Her arm felt twisted and stretched, but she was confident that she could do it again, "It's not a move that I can use many times, but I'll try my best . . . to do it one more time . . ."

The Number Forty Seven warrior grimaced. She didn't want to risk her comrade's life so cavalierly, but at the moment she had no other choice. "Sorry, but I'll take you up on your words. Entrust your life to me."

Jean's eyes flicked to the green haired boy sitting on the rocky pile, "That was my intention from the very beginning."

Clare braced her shoulders, "Forgive me."

The Abyssal One of the West let out a huff, "You guys really don't learn, do you?" She raised her head, smiling slightly, "Dauf. Take them on, but don't kill them, ok?"

The Awakened being grimaced, he didn't want to go easy on these bitches! But Riful's word was law. He grinned at the thought of being able to rough them up a little more.

Raising her sword, Clare called out to her fellow Claymore, "I'll create a path for you. Jean, you strike your Claymore into his throat."

Jean sat up with a grunt, which Clare took for a yes. Dauf opened his mouth, preparing a large rod to launch at the annoying little Claymore. Clare's eyes turned gold, and she leaped out of the way of the missile. Her right arm turned into a blur as she began her attack, landing dozens of hits on the Awakened being's head and shoulders.

Dauf launched another large rod, which Clare dodged in mid air, landing on the dull red male's arm as he tried to land a punch. She started to run up towards his shoulder, and the former Number Three fired a barrage of smaller poles at the Claymore.

Clare leaped over them and used her Quick Sword again, cutting at Dauf's entire body as she fell towards the ground. "You little bastard!" The Awakened being yelled as he raised a handless arm to try and crush her.

Noah 'ahhed' in realisation, "It's someone else's arm." He ignored Riful's look of confusion. It had taken him a little while to work out why the yoki was different in the Claymore's right arm. It seemed so obvious now that he thought about it.

Riful looked more closely at the girl, "For borrowing someone else's arm, she's doing rather well."

Noah nodded, "Yeah, but she's wasting a lot of yoki and stamina."

The brown haired girl nodded, analysing the technique, "Uhuh, it's clearly an overuse of her yoma power. It's like it's her partially Awakened right arm that's in control of her actions. Overall, she makes too many unnecessary moves, you know?"

Clare leapt forward, and launched another flurry of sword strikes, 'Still not ready, Jean?'

Clare perched on the ceiling, rods striking the rock around her. Below, Jean called out, eyes golden and veins beginning to pop out on her face, "Twenty one . . . highest number of rotations reached!"

Clare's eyes widened, "Yes, it's ready?"

Dauf let out a cry of triumph as his fist pulverised the spot where Clare was standing. Jean shouted out, "Clare!"

Dauf looked at the cloaked warrior, and his eyes widened, "Holy shit! This one's twisted her arm out of nowhere already!"

Jean's grip on her sword tightened, but she kept a firm grip on her emotions. She'd just have to stick to the plan, and avenge Clare. The huge Awakened being raised both hands, small rods generating from his fingertips and wrist-stump, "God, you're annoying." He aimed all of them at the Number nine warrior and fired, "Go to Hell!"

Jean flinched, knowing that with her Drill Sword prepared, she wouldn't be able to dodge or deflect the missiles. Suddenly, with a whistling noise, the rods were knocked off course and up into the air.

Jean stared in amazement as Clare appeared in front of her, panting heavily, "Clare . . ."

"Trust me, I will create a path for you no matter what.

The Number Nine warrior spoke quietly but with steel-hard resolve, "I've already said . . . that this life belongs to you. I will abide by your orders, no matter how reckless they are."

Clare turned her head slightly and smirked slightly. Riful hunched her shoulders, confused by the lower ranked warriors drive to survive, "Hmm, she stands up again. Either way, I don't think she has any tricks left."

Beside her, Noah narrowed his eyes, "I wouldn't be so sure . . ." She'd risked a lot to bring Number Nine back from the brink of Awakening. "I don't think she'd risk her life again unless she was certain that she had something that could ensure their victory."

Riful looked at him, raising one eyebrow, but in the end she said nothing, returning her attention to the battle in front of her.

Dauf smiled, "Heh, you just won't die, will you?"

There was dead silence, when Clare raised her sword, "Go, Jean. Strike him with your attack!"

Jean grunted, and leapt over her head, again aiming for Dauf's head. The Awakened being raised both arms, "How stupid! I'll clobber you and end this!"

The two Abyssal ones watched as Clare closed her eyes, arms outstretched to either side of her. Her yoki dimmed, and Noah murmured something, "Another sensor . . ." Riful looked at the girl in confusion, not understanding the statement.

Clare tried to focus, 'Concentrate . . . read the flow of his yoki . . . and direct my Quick Sword to only those locations!'

Every one but Jean watched in amazement, as Clare's right arm started to move, blurring as she swung her sword. Riful gasped as all of the warrior's strikes avoided Jean, and started cutting along Dauf's arms, stopping him from using them to hit Jean.

Riful leaned forwards, "I don't believe it! She managed to have her berserk-like right arm pass by her comrade, and land her attacks only on Dauf's arms!"

Noah grinned at her, "She's a sensor, just like me and the long haired one. That's why she closed her eyes and suppressed her yoki . . . to get a better read on Dauf's yoki."

"Screw. You!" Dauf opened his mouth, generating a large pole to smash Jean out of the air. All of a sudden, the Awakened beings mouth was forcefully closed, stopping him from firing the pole.

Galatea spoke from her seat on the ground, "Forgive me . . . this is all I can do for now."

Clare's blade stilled, "Do it, Jean!"

Jean's sword started to spin, aimed right for Dauf's chest. It struck, carving a huge, gaping wound through the Awakened being's chest. The Claymore emerged from the back of Dauf's chest, the force of her jump carrying her to the wall behind him. "I shall completely cut off that head of yours!"

She lunged forwards, but suddenly several dozen deep green tendrils wrapped around her and slammed her into the ground as Clare and Galatea watched on in shock.

Standing from her rocky seat, Riful's right arm was in it's Awakened form, dozens upon dozens of tendrils emerging from the little girl. Noah was standing as well, looking in amazement at the gaping hole in Dauf's chest. The destructive power of Jean's attack was unbelievable!

The little girl looked uncommonly serious, "Sorry, I wish I could let you enjoy the moment of victory, but I can't really let that happen." She tilted her head to the side, smirking slightly. "After all, he is my man . . ."

Galatea looked to the side as Clare disappeared. The Number Forty Seven let out a yell as she swung her sword down, slicing into the female Abyssal One's head.

Riful's expression didn't even change, although Noah smirked and muttered, "Well done." From beside her.

"I'll consider this the one strike you need to land on me." Clare's eyes narrowed as the little girl's body fell apart into more ribbons.

It was too fast for any of the Claymores to properly process what happened, all they could see was a huge blur of green. Suddenly the mountain collapsed around them.

The Three Claymore's struggled to their feet, reaching for their swords as they did so.

"Awww, I wanted to end things before it came to this." Riful's true form had been revealed.

Clare, Galatea and Jean stood and stared in awe. The Abyssal One was enormous, far larger than any Awakened being any of them had ever seen. Riful was made up of nothing but tendrils, hundreds and hundreds of them that formed into the upper half of a woman's body, the same size as a normal humans, sitting up atop a massive web of tendrils.

Dauf was hoisted into the air by some of the tendrils, some how still alive despite the hole in his chest. He moaned a little, but didn't even raise his head. Noah stood on a stone column, watching in silence. "Oh, Dauf. Sorry for leaving you like that. I can't have you die on me, you know? You're like the only one that can accept me without breaking."

Jean and Clare limped over to Galatea, wary of the Abyssal one. The Number Forty Seven ranked warrior stiffened slightly when Riful turned to look at her.

Riful smiled, "Ah, yes, yes, like I promised. 'If you can even land One strike on me, I'll tell you the name of the guy in the North.'" Clare gave a little gasp, "Ok, I'll tell you. I mean, you put a lot of effort into this. As for his name . . . the Northern lands, sealed away by snow and ice . . . Alphonse."

Clare clenched her hands tightly, an action that didn't go unnoticed by anyone there. "He is their White Silver King . . . Isley!"

The short haired warrior whispered to herself, "Isley . . . of the Northern lands of Alphonse."

All three Claymores heads jerked up at Riful's next words, "If you want to defeat that guy, then join me. That is your only way." Denial was on all their lips, but Riful saw it, "I'll be waiting for you, then."

The Abyssal ones looked at each other, Noah smiled, "I'm going to go with them, to see the North. If you ever need me, you know how to get my attention."

Riful nodded, "See you again, and don't start anything you can't win, you know?" Suddenly, the Abyssal One's body unravelled, and in a blink of an eye, she was gone, taking Dauf along with her.

All three Claymores stared in awe, even 'God Eye' Galatea couldn't sense her after a few moments. "Something as gigantic as that . . . just disappeared?"

Jean whirled around when she heard a sound behind her, but it was only Noah. "You should never underestimate Riful, or any of the Abyssal ones."

"Does that include you?" Clare spoke quietly, watching the green haired boy warily.

Noah smiled at her innocently, while Jean stared at him. Abyssal One? Was he really? He turned to her, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm former Number One, Noah. And I'm going to be heading North with Number Forty Seven." He gestured to Clare.

"I'm sorry, but I must complete my original mission." Galatea spoke up and the other three looked at her with curiosity, amusement and fear. "Number Forty Seven. I was ordered to take you back to the Organisation. It's be great if you followed me back without any resistance." Her eyes narrowed, "If not . . . you understand, right?"

Clare gripped her sword tighter, she doubted she had a chance to even escape from the Number Three, exhausted as they both were, but she would try her hardest. "I have no intention of returning to the Organisation right now, for I have something that I must do first."

Galatea stood up straighter, "In other words . . . it's reasonable for me to take you back to the Organisation as a corpse?"

They stood there in silence for a second, but both of them stiffened in surprise when Noah and Jean stepped in front of Clare. "Jean, Noah, what's the meaning of this?"

Jean spoke first, "Sorry, but I owe her my life. I just decided to use my life for her." Her eyes slid to the side, 'And him.' She added silently. Jean had decided to ignore what Noah really was, she still owed him her life, and it was impossible for her to ignore a debt like that.

Noah smiled lightly, "Number Forty Seven's too interesting for me to let you take back to the Organisation. I hope you understand."

The Number Three grimaced in defeat and turned back to Jean, "That would mean that you're defying the Organisation, as well."

Jean stood firm, "I have lost my life once already. I have no intentions of going against my morals to prolong it." She could see Noah giving her an approving glance from the corner of her eye, and it helped steady her shaking hands.

It was a tense moment, until finally, Galatea lowered her sword and smirked. She turned away and began to walk off, sheathing her sword as she did so. Without turning around, she spoke quietly, but loudly enough for Noah, Clare and Jean to hear, "Low ranked warriors, like you two, can't possibly survive an encounter with the Abyssal One, Riful of the West." She could almost feel Noah's silent gratitude for not mentioning him. "And basically, I had no intention of searching the bodies that were destroyed by her."

She looked over her shoulder, smirking again, "I don't know whether I'll be your friend or foe next time we meet. Either way though, live on till then." Galatea started to walk, but paused as Noah called out to her.

"Galatea! If you ever need a favour, flare your yoki, as big as you can. I'll be there." Even though her face was turned away, the Abyssal One could tell the Number Three smiled.

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Far to the North, in the snow covered land of Alphonse, three Claymores slowly walked backwards, trying not to break ranks and escape as fast as they could. "Fall back! Fall back, fall back, fall back!" One of them called out to the others.

She turned her head to the left as one of her comrade's called out, "Eva! Kate's been killed!" Eva's face twisted in horror as her comrade was abruptly struck down in a shower of blood.

"Lucia!" She looked forwards as something in front of her roared.

The snow cleared slightly, and dozens of huge shapes loomed closer in the blizzard. All different shapes and sizes, Eva stopped, "Wh-what . . . what the hell . . . what the hell is happening here!"

As the blizzard howled, the Claymore's screams could barely be heard in the darkness.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

I hope you enjoyed it :) I haven't replied to any reviews because no one signed in. I love you guys for reviewing, but I'm not going to leave replies for you in the author notes. Sorry.

Phoenix


	6. Lost Northern Star

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore.

AN: Last of the already finished chapters :) Enjoy!

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_Where the calm fields of snow become one with the sky  
I am there; I am waiting as time passes by  
I set up the weather to suit how you feel  
Drop rain down with wishes, build grace out of steel_

_Lost northern star  
Buried in sorrow, I'll guard your mind.  
Let demons howl outside._

_My soul burns._

_~Lost Northern Star, Tarja Turunen_

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Clare walked forwards through the forest, trying to ignore the two people following her. While Jean's foot steps were soft and quiet to her enhanced hearing, Noah didn't make any noise at all as he moved, and it was sending shivers down the Number Forty Seven ranked warriors spine. While he hadn't done anything to harm her, and the Abyssal One had even helped to bring Jean back to normal, it was still hard to trust the former Number One.

What were his motives for coming along?

She stopped, "Just how long do you plan on following me for?" Clare heard Jean stop, and Noah flickered into sight in front of her, sitting on a tree branch.

"I have no intentions of leaving, not until I return a favour of equal magnitude."

Clare turned around to face her, watching as Jean continued, "I've said so already . . . I owe this life to you."

Nate spoke up from his perch in the tree, "She's not going to leave, Clare. She's decided that her life belongs to you, so just let her come with."

Clare turned to face him, "And why are you coming with me? What's your reason for going North? Why should I trust you?"

Noah jumped down from his tree, and walked over to them, noting that both warriors were listening intently, "Like I said, you interest me. Plus, I have to see what the competitions like." When Clare continued to give him a penetrating look, he sighed, "You might not know this, but all four Abyssal Ones are about even in power. With that woman in Isley's possession, he has the advantage."

Jean interrupted, "But how? With you as her ally, Riful has the advantage, doesn't she?" Clare was too busy trying to control her rage at the mention of Priscilla to respond.

Noah shook his head, "No one really knows how powerful the One Horned woman is. It's possible that she could be powerful enough to rival one of us. The fact that she fought against Isley and survived, proves that she is stronger than most Awakened beings. Plus Isley has an army and Riful has no army at all."

Clare stared at him in silence for a second, "That explains why you're going to the North, but not why you're travelling with me."

Noah smiled lightly, "Why wouldn't I travel with you? Like I said to Number Three, you're too interesting for me to just let you go. Your right arm isn't your own, and I'm sure that I've felt your yoki aura before . . ." He frowned lightly. "So while I'm not going to fight your battles for you, I'm definitely going to be fighting by your side."

He winked at her, "Unless you think you can take an Abyssal One and one of the most powerful Awakened beings to ever be created on at the same time, I'll be coming with you."

Clare frowned, it made sense, and she could definitely use the help . . . but she was wasn't a total weakling, "I'm not as weak as my rank indicates. Thanks to Jean, I've gained a valuable skill, something that is worth the debt she owes me." She spun around, sword blurring as she unsheathed it.

Jean stood still, calmly standing in the middle of the storm of sword strikes, until finally, Clare's blade stilled. The two trees behind Jean fell to the ground, shredded into hundreds of pieces. Noah smirked slightly, despite her protest, she hadn't said that she didn't want his help, which was smart for the long run.

"Very impressive." Noah nodded his agreement. There were few warriors, Awakened or not, who would be able to defend themselves from an attack like that.

Clare turned around to the other warrior, "I acquired this skill thanks to you."

"Me?"

The Number Forty Seven ranked warrior bowed her head, "Before then, it never occurred to me that the Quick Sword was controllable. But when I saw you in that underground castle, I completely changed my thinking. Even when your body had already Awakened, you were able to keep your mind on the human side, something that shouldn't be possible according to our common sense. It had a great impact on me."

She turned to look at Jean, "The strength of one's mind can be a very powerful force. That's why I gave it a try. By reacting to the yoki, I was able to use my strong mind to control the Quick Sword."

Jean looked behind her at the pieces of the trees, "And this was the result?"

Clare nodded, "This skill was possible thanks to you." Noah's head jerked to the left.

"Someone's here." And with that, he disappeared.

Clare and Jean reached for their swords, reaching out theirs senses to try and detect anyone. While neither of them doubted Noah's warning, it better to be safe then sorry.

It was silent for a few minutes, and then both warriors spun around to see a man in black walk into the clearing, "Don't give me that look. If you go missing, I go looking. That's a given."

"Rubel . . ." Clare was shocked, how had he managed to find them? Jean didn't know who the man was, but from the way he dressed, and the familiarity he had with Clare, she guessed that he was a handler from the Organisation. No wonder Noah had disappeared.

Both of them swung around again, reacting to a swishing sound, barely audible to either of them. Standing against a nearby tree, was another short haired warrior, half hidden in shadow. Her left eye was gone, with only a massive jagged scar was left in it's place and her short spiky hair did nothing to cover it.

"Impossible," Jean whispered, "We didn't even sense her presence . . ."

Clare caught a glimpse of her symbol, 'Number five, Rafaela?'

"So, surprised, right?" Rubel started to walk forwards, "This one is the most talented at hiding her own yoki." He stopped next to the motionless warrior, "She's the best choice for secret missions."

Clare drew her sword, and the warrior still didn't move, "I suggest you don't. Even with the two of you, you won't be able to defeat this one. She's a bit special, you see."

Jean refrained from mentioning that they, hopefully, had an Abyssal One backing them up, "And Galatea? What happened to Galatea?"

"She abandoned her original mission, and came up with that blatant lie. After we heard her report, we chopped her head off right away."

There was a faint rustle of leaves, and both Clare and Jean had the feeling that it was Noah.

Before anything could happen, Rubel continued, "I wish we could say that, but she'd a rather useful individual. We spared her life. She'll be sent on dangerous missions for a while, instead."

The black clad man pushed his pitch black glasses up his nose, "Clare. I'm here to give you a mission."

Clare blinked in confusion, "A mission?"

"Numerous Awakened beings have appeared in the Northern lands, and several warriors under the command of Number Seven, have all lost their lives. Your mission is to take out these Awakened beings."

Clare and Jean gaped, take out 'numerous' Awakened beings? It wasn't possible, not without at least two full teams of warriors!

Rubel put both hands in his pocket, smirking slightly, "The organisation is prepared to send a large number of warriors, and you're one of them, basically."

Number Five still hadn't said anything, standing perfectly still, with her remaining eye trained on Clare and Jean. "Complete this mission and we might even reward you. This should be considered a great chance for two runaway warriors like you two."

Clare gritted her teeth, while Jean continued to watch Rafaela. Her choice was already made, she would follow Clare, and therefore Noah, until her debt was repaid.

"Well, you don't need to decide right away. We've already made you aware that we can find and kill you whenever we want." Rubel started to walk off, before he stopped and held up a hand, "Ahh, and . . . that boy you had around . . . it seems that he was captured by slavers and taken to the North. So it seems, that this mission might be your best chance of finding him."

Clare gasped, Raki! He was in the North?

Rubel started walking again, Number Five following him after one last look at Clare and Jean.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah sighed quietly. He was getting bored of this already, he hadn't had a chance to speak with Clare and Jean for several days now. The whole time they had spent travelling to the North, they'd been watched by agents of the Organisation. He couldn't risk being discovered by the Organisation at this point, so he'd had to stay hidden, only appearing to the two warriors every once in a while to reassure them that he was still there.

The appearance of the Claymore was a little bit disconcerting. She was suppressing her yoki in the exact same way that Noah was, which in itself was suspicious. The only way someone could learn to do that was with years of practice. The only reason he had heard any one approaching was because he could hear and smell them, using senses far stronger than the average Claymores.

They were in the town of Pieta now, with Noah running along the roofs of buildings while the two Claymores had slowed down to a human paced walk.

It was snowing lightly as the humans in the town stared. It was possibly the first time in history so many Claymores had ever gathered together in one spot, and a fairly large crowd had gathered to gawk and stare.

The Abyssal One watched as another Claymore ran and seemingly attacked Clare. He didn't feel the need to interfere, Clare had Jean watching out for her and the woman's yoki hadn't felt malicious or aggressive, only friendly.

Jean fended her off, and then another Claymore interfered, preventing Jean from attacking the first girl. Noah watched carefully, examining their yoki. They were just like Clare, partially Awakened. He could feel it, that faint sense of menace that drifted through their auras. Jean had more running through her than they did, most likely because her body had fully Awakened instead of only approaching and crossing the limit before coming back.

They felt fairly powerful, which made the Abyssal One wonder what their ranks were. Another thing that confused him, why was Clare was ranked number Forty Seven? Her Quick Sword ability should have pushed her up into the twenties at least, not to mention her speed and strength were fairly good too.

His sensitive hearing picked up their conversation as the warriors all apologised. Number Twenty Two Helen and Number Fifteen Deneve, eh? At least they were seemingly ranked appropriately.

Suddenly, a soft voice drew all of the warriors' attentions, "Everyone, please gather here."

The gathered warriors all walked over and stood in front the Claymore who had called out to them. She stood on the stairs of a raised area, in front of what Noah guessed was the town hall.

"We will now be briefing you on this mission. My name is Flora, Number Eight in the Organisation."

The one called Helen walked towards the wavy haired warrior, "Hey, since there's more than one single digit warrior here, you having the lowest number must mean you're the leader, right?"

Flora shook her head, "No, there's someone with a lower number than me. She's the leader . . ."

Noah leaned forwards, there were some weak yoki auras, quite a few average yoki auras and several strong yoki auras. The strong auras were coming from; Flora, a warrior who just introduced her self as Number Six, Miria, Helen, Deneve, Jean, a warrior with her hair tied back in a tight pony tail and a warrior with huge muscles and two swords. Her bulk was comparable to Dauf's when he was in human form, and Dauf was one of the most well built warriors in the history of the Organisation.

Strangely enough, Clare's yoki was fairly small. It didn't make sense though, comparing her yoki to her skill level, and she couldn't be hiding it as she'd almost Awakened a few days ago in the mountains, and to do that one's yoki had to be pushed to the limits. What was the mystery behind Number Forty Seven . . .

The Abyssal One watched as the meeting wore on. He frowned when arguments broke out, these people were supposed to be well trained warriors, not pre-pubescent children. Number Eight, Flora, truly impressed him with how she handled it, both with her attitude and her technique. 'Windcutter Flora'. Her attack was something he'd never seen at such a high level before before. It was similar to the Quick Sword, but more accurate in it's strikes and possibly less draining on her yoki. It must have taken her months to refine and speed up her ability to unsheathe her sword, slash then sheathe it again.

The brawny one, Number Eleven, Undine, was considerably less impressive. While her strength was probably something to marvel at, he had to agree with Deneve. Showing off with her muscles was a waste of yoki and effort, while her attitude was laughable for team dynamics.

From what he could see, this bunch had next to no chances of survival, especially if he was correct about the number of Awakened beings approaching. He could feel thirty five of them approaching, all around average in strength, and one who was far beyond that. The strong one had to have been Number Two to Five before he Awakened, meaning that it was probably Rigardo.

Noah smiled viciously, maybe he could 'introduce' himself to Isley's second in command.

Number Six, Miria, was an interesting one. She was partially Awakened, just like Clare and her friends. Maybe she was part of their group? Her yoki was the biggest one here, and Noah heard some of the lower ranked warriors calling her a nickname, 'Phantom Miria'. With a title like that, it made him even more curious as to what special ability she had. She was serious and professional, everything that a leader needed to be.

He watched as she created the teams, splitting up the warriors evenly, and creating back up teams. It was smart, and made the whole plan more flexible. Jean, Flora, Miria, Undine and Number Thirteen, Veronica were made team leaders, and four to five warriors were in each team.

He leant back against the wall, this was something he had to see.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Alright, I didn't want to have to do this, but seeing as no one's signed in to leave reviews, I'm going to start answering them at the end of every chapter. If I get any more.

Marc: I'm glad you liked it :) The fight scenes would have been awful if I hadn't watched the anime and described everything that happened there. Thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: I'm glad you think so. Thanks for reviewing :)

marc: Thanks. And thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks for mentioning that, I didn't really notice until you pointed it out. One day I'll go back and fix it. Also, that happened in this chapter, and I fixed that up hopefully. I'm glad you liked how I did that :) Thanks for reviewing :)

Freehawk: Thanks. Why would Clare waste valuable time that Jean needs, fighting against someone she knows she can't win against. She knew that Noah was a former Number One, plus neither he nor Riful had interfered in the fight, so she just left him alone. Thanks for reviewing and I hope that answered your statement thingy :)

marc: I'm glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks for reviewing :)

marc: I tried to answer that in this chapter. Jean decides to follow Clare without knowing anything about her, and while this is a bit more extreme, in her mind Noah has proved that he is honourable enough to warrant her loyalty. Not that she would go around attacking humans if he asked or anything stupid like that. Clare on the other hand, knows that she needs help, even if she doesn't act that way. She still thinks she can take Priscilla on her own though, and Noah is just to fight Isley. She trusts him, but at the first sign of betrayal she'd turn on him. I hope that answered your question, both in and out of the chapter :) Thanks for reviewing :)

Me: The line breaks are kind of a tradition, seeing as I couldn't get the normal line breaks to work :) I'm glad that you like Noah. I was afraid that he would turn Gary-Stu (not quite sure of the definition). Thanks for reviewing :)

All done! Also, there will be a fair wait for the next chapter. These were all written in three days ages ago, and they just needed some editing. The seventh chapter was also written, but I didn't like it, so I decided to scrap it and rewrite it. Also I'm concentrating on my other stories, seeing as they all need desperate updating :)

Phoenix


	7. Blue Eyes

Disclaimer: Do not own. Now or Ever.

AN: Oh my God! An update within a month? Claps for me! Actually this one was much, much easier than I thought to write, but then it was mostly written anyway . . . moving on. I hope you enjoy it, this one might be a bit confusing, so tell me if it needs to be rewritten . . . again.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_Can't you see their eyes, what lies inside  
They've given up, they no longer shine  
Too soon they close with one last cry  
Before they turn to white_

_Just to hurt you_

_It's burning me up inside  
Lost all my tears, can't cry  
No reason, no meaning  
Just hatred  
No matter how hard I try  
You fear the beast inside  
It's growing, it's waiting  
Just to hurt you _

_~Blue Eyes, Within Temptation_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

With a heavy thud, the tall, cream coloured Awakened being landed in the middle of Pieta. Dozens of civilians stood around him, motionless in their fear. "Good evening, citizens of Pieta . . ."With a slight surge of yoki, the four chain like tendrils, sprouting from his back, whipped around him, bisecting over forty civilians in one attack, "And goodbye . . ." His voice was filled with cruel humour as he grinned as the sight of blood dancing through the air.

The humans who survived started to panic, running as fast as they could to escape. The Awakened being lashed out with his tendrils again, spearing human after human through the chest and head.

He turned around and saw a young girl running for her life, and with a dark chuckle, he lined up a tendril and launched it at her. The tendril never made contact, the tip sliced off before it could reach her. The former Claymore grinned, "Those were some nice moves you made."

Miria ignored him, and after making sure the girl was gone, called out to her comrades, "Everyone, take your team formations!"

Two dozen Claymores ran out of the nearby buildings, holding their swords, ready for battle. They spread out into their teams, making sure not to clump together and provide an easy target.

The cream coloured being stood up tall, examining the warriors surrounding him, "Wow, what a great view. I rarely get surrounded by so many girl's . . ."

Again, Miria ignored him, "My Miria team will take on the one in front of us. Flora team, take the one on the roof to the right. Jean team, take the one on the stone tower to the left. Undine and Veronica team, stand by. Assist the team in trouble, based on the situation."

The Awakened being on the roof, still in human form and shrouded in a long cloak, whispered to himself, although the other Awakened beings and Noah, could hear him. "Oh, oh, oh, I thought they'd be panicking from our surprise attack, but they're unexpectedly calm. I planned on taking the spoils amidst the chaos, but out cover got blown already"

"She must have gone through many hellish situations. A very good leader. But . . . she'd forgotten not all of them are used to fighting Awakened beings . . ." This time it was the Awakened being on the stone tower who spoke, his voice a steady monotone.

Miria yelled out to her fellow Claymores, "Forward!" And the battle began.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah sat down against a chimney, perched on the roof of a house on the outskirts of Pieta. He had wanted to watch the battle in person, but he would probably be spotted that way, and with the warriors on a hair trigger, most likely attacked.

However, it was a risk he was willing to take. The Abyssal One closed his eyes, ignoring what his physical senses were telling him, as even they couldn't tell him enough. His sensing ability magnified to cover the surrounding mountain side, and every single Claymore and Awakened being in the city became like a beacon of light in his mind. Noah could easily tell the difference between the different lights, using the size and the texture of the yoki to identify the person. It was a skill that took years to master, and Noah had tried to refine it as much as possible.

He watched as Flora and Undine's teams engaged the manipulator. The Number Eight ranked warrior had the right idea, launching the initial attack, but she obviously wasn't expecting the Awakened being's skill at paralysing them with their own yoki. Manipulators were rare to find, with maybe one every ten or so generations.

Clare's use of her Quick Sword, even while paralysed by her own yoki, was a surprise, something that Noah hadn't been expecting. However, Undine's attitude towards her team and Flora's didn't improve throughout the fight, he could see the frustration and worry pulsing through her aura. Still it didn't excuse her from rushing ahead from everyone else, she was lucky to be breathing at all. Noah watched with curiosity as Clare and Deneve appeared to go over their limits, but attacked the Awakened being seconds later, perfectly fine. Being partially Awakened must've improved their limits.

He was surprised when, even though Deneve and Undine separated his head from his shoulders, the Awakened being still managed to push two Claymore's into trying to cut each other's heads off. If it wasn't for Clare and Flora turning the decapitated head into meat shreds, they would have succeeded too.

Over with the Number Nine's team, Jean didn't fare so well, getting herself injured as she struggled to keep her team alive. By the time that everyone else in her team was down, she had a multitude of small scratches and cuts, while the Awakened being she was fighting didn't have a mark on him.

Veronica's team came in at the perfect moment, and Helen quickly forced the insect like being to back off. Her special attack was one he'd never seen from a Claymore. She could extend her arms and quite possibly her legs, just like most Awakened beings did with their fingers. That battle was much shorter than Clare and Deneve's, with Veronica's team and Jean quickly making up a plan.

The defensive types quickly launched attack after attack, taking blows themselves as they did so. Jean prepared her Drill Sword as the other's distracted the Awakened being and tried to wear him out. When Jean was ready, she appeared beneath the Awakened being and held her sword against him, as Helen wrapped her extended arm around his upper limbs. The two partially Awakened warriors launched their attacks and all of the giant insect's numerous arms were removed. Veronica and another warrior jumped in the air and promptly destroyed the the Awakened being.

Miria and her team had the hardest time of all five teams, battling the Awakened being without a support team. Noah watched the Number Six warrior closely, curious as to how powerful she really was. He was pleased when Miria performed beyond his initial expectations, rallying her team with her encouraging words. The Number Six warrior's special ability was something to marvel at especially. Using sudden bursts of yoki to accelerate to lightning speeds was genius. Unfortunately, when she was distracted with moving one of her comrades out of harms way, another, lost most of her left arm. However, that only served to piss Miria off, and she attacked the cream coloured Awakened being in a focused rage.

Darting in and out, the Number Six ranked warrior quickly cut off the Awakened being's right arm and all four of his tendrils. Need less to say, he didn't last much longer before she sliced his head off.

Noah listened as Flora explained Miria's goal by placing everyone into their teams, and the Abyssal One had to commend the Number Six again. It was a good way of giving everyone a taste of real combat against an Awakened being.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah watched as Clare and Flora sparred, Quick Sword against Windcutter, with Jean looking on in silence.

He thought about what he was going to do when Isley's army started their true assault on Pieta. Riful had always said that he was too soft, to human, and in some points she was right.

The decision to abstain from human flesh had been a hard one, and even now he could feel the urge to rip, tear and _feed_! The former Number One doubted it would ever fade, but the satisfaction that Noah got from denying it, along with the knowledge that countless humans would die if he did give in, was enough to keep him from succumbing to the sometimes mind crushing hunger.

Instead, the Abyssal One hunted down and fed from his lesser kin, the Awakened beings. There were good reasons for this, and it made him a little bit surprised no one else had tried it. For one, Awakened beings were usually much, much larger than any human, and one was normally enough to stem his hunger.

Another reason was that it was better for him to feed on the former Claymore's, as humans were so weak, while Awakened beings were overflowing with yoki. Noah was almost certain that the yoki-enriched flesh had helped accelerate his own growth in power, or maybe it was just the years spent in the cave with but training and the occasional hunt when someone entered the cave system to amuse himself with?

Noah spent several hours thinking. He would fight Rigardo, that much was certain, but the question was should he interfere with the rest of the fighting? It wasn't any of his concern, but he couldn't help but consider the idea. Clare and Jean would be fighting, and while he wasn't exactly their friend, he would still keep anyone else from killing them.

There were several others who interested him, and the realisation made him question himself. Maybe Riful was right? Maybe he was going soft? After all, why should he be interested in helping a bunch of Claymores?

He put the thought out of his mind to think about later. It was starting to give him a head ache. In the end though, all that mattered was that Clare and Jean lived, and that Rigardo died.

Just thinking of fighting the former Number Two was making him shiver in excitement. Rigardo had been renowned for his speed and it made Noah wonder how he would measure up, not able to use too much of his yoki or risk alerting Isley or the Organisation, both of whom were no doubt watching closely, eagerly awaiting the outcome.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Before long, it was morning and Miria was calling all of the Claymores together for a meeting. She used the town hall for the gathering, it was after all, the only building large enough to hold all of the warriors. Noah lay down on the roof, still easily able to hear everything that was being said within with his enhanced hearing.

Once everyone had settled, Miria stood up. She placed a yoma suppressant pill on the table in front of her and neatly split it in half with her sword. She lifted one half up into the air. "All of you, will take one of these before the battle."

Flora was the first to speak, "Half a . . . yoma suppressant?"

Miria nodded, "If you take just half, neither your yoki will be suppressed nor will you be unable to sense the enemy's yoki. You will be able to fight the same as usual. But should you lose consciousness . . . the instant your yoki completely stops, the suppressant's effects will kick in."

No One said anything, completely shocked by the statement. Flora said the thought that was running through some of their minds, "In other words, we'll be able to play dead."

Miria nodded, "Tomorrow's battle isn't a battle to win, it's a battle to survive! But even if we just abandon this mission and run away, we'll only become targets for the Organisation's purge."

She straightened up, looking each of the warriors gathered there in the eye, "That is why by all means, I want a reality where each of us was 'killed in action'!"

She continued on, not daring to stop, thinking she might not be able to go on if she did, "I think you already understand as much, but with this plan . . . the chances of surviving are incredibly low." The Number Six clenched her fists, "Rather, you could call it a plan to save a few by sacrificing many . . ."

Miria bowed her head, speaking faster now, "I'm sorry, but no matter how hard I think, this is the only way to survive I can think of. I know that it's inexcusable, but-"

She was cut of by a loud, brash voice, "That's great!" Everyone turned to look at the smiling Undine, "In a suicide mission, having even a shred of hope for survival is pretty damn good already! And this plan is fair. Strong ones and weak ones have an equal chance to survive. Even everyone surviving is unlikely, but not impossible."

Everyone's attention was directed at Flora next, "This is true. I also believe this is the best way to go. No grudges, whoever is left standing in the end . . . and the survivors will carry on the will of all us twenty four. Let's do it like that."

She turned around and held out her sword, smiling slightly, "Pray for luck, for as many of us as possible."

They all stood in a circle, joining swords for what could be the last time.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

And that's all for this chapter :) I hope you liked it and I hoped I didn't ramble on for too long or anything. I tried to go deeper in Noah's personality but I don't know how well it went. If no one likes it, I'll take it down and rewrite this chapter, so don't hesitate to say what you thought was awful in this chapter :)

Phoenix


	8. Time To Bring The Pain

Disclaimer: Do Not Own.

AN: Thank you all so much for reviewing :) I actually wrote this without watching the episode, so even if you're not impressed with me, I certainly am :) The reviews will be at the start of the chapter so that I can answer your questions before you read :) Enjoy :)

marc: You had a really good point. I actually wrote out Noah introducing him self to Clare's group, but then I scrapped it because it didn't lead the way I wanted it to. But your review gave me the push to rewrite it, so it's in the very start of this chapter :) Please tell me if it's to confusing or anything :)

DBZLOVER: Thank you so much :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it :) Hope you enjoy this one too :)

Freehawk: Ahahaha, Noah isn't going to completely wipe the floor with Rigardo, I've put some limits in there so it's not over too fast :) But I did add a scene to add to the trust building :) Well that was the intention in the first place :)

storyreaderlovespie: Hmmm, you do have a very good point, but . . . my story, my rules? Let's just say that Riful never had the inclination to learn anything about it, and that she'd never fought against one powerful enough to even phase her. As I can't (and won't) go back and change it as this point, that's the only answer I can give you at the moment. Is that ok?

Kyuubicannon: I didn't want to branch off so early before I could get my bearings. If you've read the manga, the bit after the battle in the North is where I'm really going to go ballistic with my own changes. Plus nothing Noah's really said or done at this point would really cause a big change anyway.

Algebraiya: Your wish is my command :) Although it might not have been what you were imagining. If you were going for the 'Gai Style Dramatic Entry' then prepare to be a little disappointed.

Also I would like to mention that I've sort of combined the situation from the manga with that of the anime. If you've seen both like I have then you'll understand, and if not then never mind :)

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_Me the hunter you the prey I got you in my sight  
Licking my chops the wait is over and the time's just right to strike  
Let's go no more toying around let's go_

_Time for me to bring the pain - venatrix approinquit  
Time to teach you bout the feeling when your hearts being ripped out  
Time for me to bring the pain - venatrix approinquit  
Time to finish what you started in the past here right now_

_I am quickly closing in on you I'' put an end to this affair  
And you won't have a clue what hit you I am already there  
Let's go no more toying around let's go  
_

_~Time To Bring The Pain, Krypteria_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_¤END FLASHBACK¤_

"_Are you insane!"_

_Helen stood in front of the warm fire, breathing heavily, sword clenched in her hand. The urge to use it on the seemingly human boy in front of her was almost overwhelming. The monster just smiled back at her._

_Clare nodded, a cold, blank mask showing none of her inner thoughts, "Noah has so far proved trustworthy, and he has given good reasons as to why we should cooperate with him." True, most of it was helpful to her, but in the long run it would benefit everyone._

_Helen glared at her, ignoring the restraining hand that Deneve laid on her shoulder. "So? Who knows how many people that thing's killed. Why should we trust it?"_

"_Why indeed?"_

_Helen leapt over the fire, spinning in the air and slashing out at the boy who had suddenly appeared behind her. To his credit the boy merely leaned backwards, allowing the sword to lightly graze his neck._

_With a rivulet of dark purple blood spilling down his neck, Noah spoke, speaking more to the contemplative warrior sitting across the fire from him, and the cut healed in less than a second. The other four were standing in their respective spots, Deneve behind him, and Clare, Jean, and Helen standing near the exit of the cave. Save for the Number Six, all of them had their swords in their hands._

"_I'll be the first to admit, my kind hasn't given you a lot of reason to trust me. But . . . this is more about a mutual understanding rather than trust." He gave a considering glance to Jean and Clare, "However . . . I do plan on seeing Number Forty Seven and Number Nine come out of this alive. The rest of you I don't have the same personal interest in your safety."_

_Miria spoke for the first time, "Why would you care about whether Jean and Clare live or die." Her hands were clasped underneath her chin and her eyes were locked onto Noah's._

_Noah smiled, "Jean has the rather ridiculous, honourable yes, but still ridiculous notion that she owes me her life. And I don't want her to die on my account. Odd as that sounds"_

_They all turned to Jean, who gazed stoically back, "Noah and Clare helped bring my mind back after my body had Awakened" She reminded them quietly._

_The others had already been told about what had happened underneath the mountain, including the involvement of Galatea and the two Abyssal One's._

_Miria turned back to the former Claymore, "And what about Clare? What reason could possibly endear her to you?" The others knew that the Number Six was not trying to be cruel, but she was trying to clarify exactly what Noah's motive was, and if he was any danger to any of the warriors under her command._

_Noah smirked widely, "Number Forty Seven and I share the same goal, and we have an . . . understanding. It would be stupid of me to come between her and that goal. Plus, Clare is by far the most interesting warrior I've ever met, so I'm very interested in seeing her full potential."_

_Helen scoffed, "More like you're interested in seeing her guts splattered across the snow." She muttered, but Miria quelled her with a stern look._

_The Number Six thought for a second before speaking, "Will you be fighting in the battle with the Awakened beings heading towards Pieta."_

_Miria's face revealed nothing, but the former Number One could hear the faint note of desperation in her voice, and he raised one of his eye brows. Was she begging?_

_He sighed, "I won't be directly engaging the Awakened beings, but I will be whittling down their numbers until Rigardo interferes."_

_Miria gasped, "R-Rigardo is coming?"_

_The others frowned, but Denveve was the one to speak first, "Who is this 'Rigardo'?"_

_Miria opened her mouth to speak but was cut of by Noah, "Rigardo is the second in command of former Number One, Isley, The White Silver King of the North. Rigardo was Number Two in the same generation as Isley." He couldn't help but smirk at the shock and despair on their faces. It was like their whole world had just collapsed._

_He continued, "Before you get worked up, I should mention that I will be dealing with Rigardo myself. This is an opportunity that can't be missed, if I kill Rigardo, then that will weaken Isley significantly."_

_Miria nodded, a faint hint of gratitude shining in her eyes before it was covered up with deadly seriousness again, "Then we will have to trust that you'll do as you've said. I would like your word that you won't harm any of the warriors gathered here and in Pieta."_

_Ignoring Helen's shout of, "Miria." The two stared each other down._

_Noah tilted his head, "Are you sure you can trust my word?"_

_Miria hesitated, but in the end she had to nod. She didn't have a choice, and despite the fact that he wasn't even close to human anymore, she would have to trust his word. He was the only chance any of them had to get out alive._

_Noah smiled at her, a little bit warmer this time, "I promise that I will not harm any of the warriors gathered here or in Pieta." He stretched his back slightly, "Also, just to let you know, there are three Awakened beings approaching the city from the North."_

_The gathered warriors tensed collectively and then they all dashed out of the cave, leaving Noah to put out the fire and follow them at a more leisurely pace. He grinned predatorily, 'This should be interesting.'_

_¤END FLASHBACK¤_

Helen panted heavily as she leapt backwards, deflecting several tendrils that darted after her. The Awakened beings had struck first, killing several warriors before anyone could react. It had quickly gone down hill from there.

They Claymores were dropping like flies, but they were starting to get their bearings and the numbers of the Awakened beings were dropping as well. Helen braced herself as another torrent of tendrils rushed through the air towards her. The Number Twenty Two had several deep gashes in her arms and torso that were hampering her mobility.

She might not survive this one.

As the thought crossed her mind, she gritted her teeth and tensed her arm. If she was going to go out, she was going to do her damn best to take this son of a bitch with her.

There was a wet, tearing sound and Helen's eyes widened to their fullest. In a split second, the tendrils, the monster's arms, it's head were gone. It had all been shredded, leaving the mutilated body to fall limply to the ground with a deafening thump.

Helen couldn't stop staring, ignoring the sounds of the battle that raged around her. Her eyes suddenly jumped to the figure that appeared in front of her, and she automatically took a step back.

Noah smiled at the shocked warrior, "Probably not the best time for you to be just standing around."

And with that he was gone, and Helen was horrified by the fact that the monster had just saved her life.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah almost laughed as he dashed across the roofs. How long had it been since he'd had this much fun? Even though he was only using a tiny fraction of his yoki, it was still the most action he'd had in decades.

He dived through the air, and lashed out with both arms, morphing his fingers into tendrils and then back to normal. Two Awakened beings closing in on several Claymores roared as lacerations appeared along their bodies, and it distracted them long enough for the warriors to escape.

The former Number One bounced off a wall and lashed out again, severing the arm of one of the creature's, while the other one spotted him and began to move in.

Noah ducked and weaved around the tendrils that it launched at him, snarling when the other Awakened being reattached it's arm and joined in. That would teach him to leave a body part in one piece next time.

He froze as an enormous burst of yoki emanated from the town square, and the Awakened beings to the chance to attack.

There was an huge crash and a cloud of dust and debris filled the street, the sound of tearing and splashing echoing down the street.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Undine spun around as she felt something appear behind her. Her crossed swords managed to catch the claws of the lion-like being that was Rigardo. Veronica was dead, cut in half at the hands of Rigardo, and Undine would be damned if she let it happen to her or anyone else. The rest of the Awakened beings were fighting the rest of her comrades outside of the square, but it sounds of battle were lessening, as though the battle was moving away.

She gritted her teeth as he started to over power her, and he raised his free hand up to attack when a flurry of tendrils struck him with a crash.

She turned her head, panting softly, to see what the hell had just attacked the other Awakened being. She gaped as she saw a young man, left hand raised in the air and transformed into a cluster of deep brown tendrils, which quickly retreated and morphed back in a hand.

She raised her swords and dashed in his direction. It didn't matter if he'd helped her or not, if he was one of them then he had to die. However, before she could reach him she was cut off.

"Captain?"

Miria frowned at her and dragged her out of the way. Undine could see that Number Forty Seven had dragged Number Eight over to Number Nine and that was where Number Six was taking her.

"We're staying out of this one, Undine."

The Number Eleven stared at her, ignoring Number Twenty Two and Number Fifteen as they jumped down from the roof tops as well. "The other Awakened beings have retreated." Number Fifteen, Deneve said, frowning slightly in confusion.

Undine looked at Flora, and she could see that they were the only ones concerned with the two Awakened beings now staring each other down in the town square.

Flora interrupted Clare as the Number Forty Seven warrior started to talk, "Excuse me, but why are we ignoring those two." She pointed towards two Awakened beings in the town centre.

Clare turned to her, "Noah is our ally in this battle. He agreed to defeat Rigardo for us."

The two warriors who hadn't met the Abyssal One stared at her, and then Undine started laughing, harsh and hollowly, "And you believed him? Are you crazy? He'll kill us and eat our guts unless we take him out first." She hefted her swords, ready to run out into the fray.

Except Miria's hand on her shoulder stopped her, "Undine, Flora, I believe Noah to be trustworthy, and until he proves otherwise, we will have to depend on him to defeat Rigardo, as I don't believe that any of us would have the power or skill to do so."

Undine ground her teeth in rage, but Flora asked the more important question, "Has anyone else survived? We can't be the only one's left." There was a faint note of terror in her voice, and the other warriors felt the same way. How many had survived the battle? And how many were dying as they spoke?

Jean shrugged slightly, "We won't know if there is anyone else who survived until we go around and check. The half suppressant covers everyone's signatures once they fall unconscious."

Miria nodded, "While Noah is engaging Rigardo, the rest of us will go and check on the other warriors. Bring anyone that survived back here."

They all turn back to the battle field as Rigardo let out a fearsome roar, a bright cyclone of crimson yoki forming around him. Opposite, Noah just smirked and flexed his fingers.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Rigardo growled as he was forced to leap away from the Claymore he'd been seconds from gutting by a flurry of tendrils.

It wasn't any of his own soldiers that were attacking, they'd already moved on towards their respective targets, the East and the West. He surveyed the town square, watching as the remaining warriors gathered inside one of the destroyed buildings. He could feel his claws itching as he contemplated dashing in and slaughtering them all, but then the sight of the Awakened being that had attacked him drew his gaze.

He leapt down from the roof, landing lightly in the blood spattered snow that covered the ground. The boy in front of him was smirking smugly as his tendrils morphed back in a hand, and it made a snarl rumble in Rigardo's chest. The little upstart wasn't from his army, of that he was sure. But that left only two options left.

Either he was working for one of the other Abyssal One's, or he was working with the Claymore's.

Both options left Rigardo burning with anger, and he clenched his hands into fists. It would be stupid to attack brashly, after all he knew nothing about the boy. His yoki was completely suppressed, and when he had launched his tendrils only a little had flared, which had alerted Rigardo to the attack.

Instead, the commander tried to aggravate the boy into doing something stupid, "And what you might you be? A pet for the Organisation?" Maybe the boy would fly off the handle and do something rash. And maybe, just maybe, the boy would be a worthy opponent.

The boy chuckled slightly, "Please, the Organisation has no knowledge of my existence, and I serve no one but myself." His smirk widened, "However, you may have heard of my ally." He paused, for a second, anticipating the former Number Two's reaction. "Riful of the West

Rigardo's jaw dropped slightly at the name. This little boy was the ally of an Abyssal One? Rigardo took back his previous judgements. If Riful had chosen to take the boy as an ally, then he had to have impressed her. And Riful was one of the most powerful beings he'd ever come across, despite the fact that he'd never even seen her in her Awakened form.

Plus, the Abyssal one herself was smaller than this boy in her human form, and Isley had said that she had the biggest form of any Awakened being. So it was by far in his best interests to not underestimate the boy, even though he probably had far less experience than himself, plus a lower rank or he would have heard something about him.

The boy tilted his head, painting the picture of an innocent child, "What's the matter? Are you scared now? And here I thought that the Silver Eyed Lion King would be a strong opponent, worthy of fighting against me." The boy shrugged, "I guess I was wrong."

Rigardo saw red at the mention of that hated title that Isley had so _graciously _bestowed on him. He threw his head back and roared, releasing all of his yoki, letting it dance and spin around him.

Noah just smiled. The more yoki that Rigardo was letting out, the more that Noah could use. The yoki of a Claymore was distinct from other Claymore's and Awakened being's, but it was extremely hard to tell the difference between two Awakened being's yoki auras. Noah could increase his a little more and remain undetected so long as Rigardo's amount of yoki dwarfed his.

Noah smirked and started to flex his fingers, allowing trace amounts of yoki to flow down his arms and legs.

"Let's Dance."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

All done :) The next chapter will be the fight scene, which I will try to embellish and improve on so that it's really good :) Of course now I'm going to have to watch the episode's over and over again repeatedly until I think I can write a high speed battle well enough :)

Before anyone says that Miria trusts Noah to easily, let me say this. She's desperate. If you've seen the manga and the suppressant scene, you've seen how guilty she gets at the thought of leading these people to their deaths. If Noah can offer better chances for survival, she's all for it. Plus having Jean and Clare vouch for him helps. Deneve is reserving judgement and Helen is obviously a hater. Or is she?

Plus, if anyone can tell me what manga that last line of Noah's is from, I'll write them a oneshot on a fandom of their choice, any pairing. I'll give you a hint, it's said by at least two or three characters in volume 17.

Please review and tell me what you think? And if enough people hate it, then I'll rewrite it :)

Phoenix :)


	9. Fleeting Instant

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Claymore.

**AN**: Sorry its late. High School is a bitch and my social life has recently come back to life, yay for me :) This was a hard chapter to write because I was really worried about how well I was doing the fight scene. Hope you enjoy :) (Side note, my Rigardo is probably way OOC in this chapter)

Answering reviews before I begin :) For Melchor and Orchamus, I can't remember if I answered your reviews the normal way . . . so I'll do it here :)

**Orchamus**: If that's for the quote, then no. If no one's guessed it by next chapter then I'll reveal the answer, and for the reward . . . . I don't know, I'll figure something out :) Thanks for reviewing.

**Melchor**: Thanks for reviewing, I really hope you enjoy the fight :)

**marc**: I'm glad you liked it. Yep :) Noah gets a lot of the spotlight, although I did put some focus on the other characters too . . . . . . enjoy and thanks :)

**storyreaderlovespi****e**: Cool. I hope you enjoy this one, and thanks for reviewing :)

**algebraiya**: I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I was hoping that Noah's entry was suitably dramatic :) I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for reviewing :)

**DBZLOVER**: Thanks so much :) I'm really glad you liked it. Thanks again for reviewing :)

**kyuubicannon**: Glad you liked it :) Actually, the changes start to come into effect in this chapter, which is a little bit earlier than I planned and it threw my whole plot off course . . . . . . meh. I'll figure something out. I adore OC stories, and basically every story I have lying around on my hard drive is OC-centric, so hopefully I can make Noah a likeable character :) Thanks for reviewing :)

**Freehawk**: I hope you enjoy it :) Thanks so much for reviewing :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_I wake up put on my face_

_Identify with the human race_

_I fall asleep take off my face_

_Somehow the light can't keep up the pace_

_Don't be so hard on yourself_

_You've got so much to pull off the shelf_

_Pack it away then pack it in_

_Life is too short the air's getting thin_

_The dying moon compels the arrogant seas_

_The deathless me of me caught up in the tease_

_You still inspire me though you hurt and deceive_

_And if you hear me now awake in your sleep_

_~Fleeting Instant, Delerium_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah scowled he ducked under Rigardo's vicious slash. He'd allowed himself to be distracted by the yoki that the former Number Two was pumping out, and Rigardo had used that chance to attack. It was probably how he'd killed one of the captains as well.

He could sense the Claymore's spreading out and searching for any survivors, and he hoped that they didn't get caught in the crossfire.

Rigardo was faster than he'd expected though, and that left the green haired boy grinning. He loved a challenge.

He leapt back out of the Awakened being's reach, and allowed more yoki to flow to his hands. His hands morphed, the fingers changing into sharp talons. He'd be able to extend them in the blink of an eye if he needed, plus he needed something to match Rigardo in hand to hand with.

Rigardo was surprised by the change, though he didn't allow it to show on his face. Was this just a partial transformation? Only single-digit ranked warriors were able to perform that, with varying amounts of success. Rigardo himself could only change his hands and feet. So how much could this boy change.

All was still for a second before both Awakened being and Abyssal One disappeared. They appeared in the air, arms moving too fast for the naked eye to follow. Noah grinned as he landed a light slash down Rigardo's chest, drawing first blood.

He landed with a soft thump on the snow covered ground, and bringing his left claw to his mouth, licked the dark purple blood that dripped from his talons. He kept his eyes locked with Rigardo's as he did so, and he could see the lion-like Awakened being tense in rage.

The former Number Two snarled, "You've proven that you're no weakling, so allow me to stop holding back." Once again, the Awakened being was surrounded with a swirling red cyclone of yoki, larger than before. He lunged forwards, faster than before and lashed out with both claws.

Noah caught them but was caught by surprise when Rigardo kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing through a row of houses. Rigardo grinned triumphantly, but the smile slipped away when a pair of virulent green eyes flared in the shadows before he was forced to dodge a barrage of tendrils that crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.

Rigardo extended his claws, sending them slicing through the air towards the gutted shell that used to be a house. Noah's tendrils withdrew milliseconds before Rigardo struck, and the house disappeared in a cloud of dust and debris. Rigardo withdrew his tendrils, but stayed alert and kept scanning the area. The boy had already proved to be a powerful opponent, and it was unlikely that he'd been destroyed by that attack.

Rigardo wasn't disappointed as several tendrils burst through the ground, punching several holes through his stomach. He growled in rage and slashed through them, quickly yanking the remnants from his abdomen.

Time to try a new approach

Instead of attacking Noah, he disappeared towards one of the team leaders that he'd sensed before. There was no reason why he couldn't finish his original objective, was there?

Noah scowled and dashed after him, pushing more yoki to his legs to bypass the lion-like being. He was taking a risk with the amount of yoki he was using. He was confident that Rigardo's was covering it still, but a little bit more and the sensors watching the battle would realise that it was something else fighting Rigardo.

Noah leapt through the air and extended his fingers again, lashing out at. He tensed and twisted his tendrils to lash out at the lion-like being, "What's the matter, Rigardo? Afraid I'll win if you actually try to fight me?"

Rigardo smirked at him, though it did nothing to hide the smouldering rage in his bright silver eyes. The brat was getting on his last nerves, and now the green haired boy was standing between him and the girl, who looked terrified.

Noah glanced over his shoulder at the Number Eight. Flora looked scared, one hand clenching the handle of her sheathed sword while the other steadied the unconscious body of one of her comrades. "When I distract him, I want you to run, ok?"

Flora nodded shakily, and readied herself to make a dash for it.

Rigardo gave a chuckle, "It's been so long since I've had a fight that lasted this long. Ever since I faced Isley, it's been nothing but weakling after weakling."

Noah smirked, "Don't worry, after this fight, you won't face any more weaklings after this." And then he darted forwards, lashing out with his tendrils. Rigardo roared with pain as one of them by passed his defences, punching through his shoulder.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Flora dashed to the left, heading towards the yoki auras of the other warriors, trying to ignore sounds battle, the wet tearing of flesh, snarls and growls of rage joined by the soft thumps as the two monsters behind her tried to tear each other apart.

Her heart was beating like a hammer, pounding at her rib cage. The Number Eight didn't think she'd ever felt yoki so full of malice and rage before. What really scared her was that the boy wasn't even fully releasing his, still mostly in human form. And he was easily matching Rigardo blow for blow!

Flora leapt into a building through the gaping hole in the wall, ignoring the red and purple blood splashed around the edges. The rest of the surviving warriors were already waiting for her, more unconscious warriors being held carefully to avoid provoking their wounds.

Miria looked up as the Number Eight ranked warrior arrived, "You're the last one, Flora. Is this everyone still alive?"

They all nodded grimly. There were seven of them still conscious, the four remaining captains plus Clare, Helen and Deneve, and there were another five warriors who had been knocked unconscious but not killed. Uma, Cynthia, Tabitha, Zelda and Queenie.

None of the remaining warriors could fully make out the blurs that were Noah and Rigardo, darting in and out of buildings in explosions of debris, snow and blood. Occasionally, the two of them would stop and catch their bearings, one or both of them snarling out some indistinguishable words to the other before they both blurred out of sight again.

Jean was watching the two intently, tracking the movements with her eyes to the best of her ability. The Number Nine didn't think she'd ever seen such a fast paced battle, even Miria would have problems going at such high speeds!

Undine wasn't carrying anyone, both of her swords clenched tightly in her hands. "What are we doing in here? Why is that, thing, fighting our battle?"

Miria turned to look at her sharply, "Noah is fighting an enemy that even I would lose against, Undine, and we have his word that he isn't going to harm any of us."

Undine laughed harshly, "His word? You're going to trust the word of a monster?"

The others were watching this in silence, until Jean spoke up, "Clare and Noah prevented me from completely Awakening. He didn't need to, and he could have stopped Clare at any time. But he didn't. Why would he do that if he wanted to hurt us? Why didn't he kill all of us while we were preparing for the attack?"

The gathered Claymore's stood and processed that. The Number Nine ranked warrior had a point. Why were they all still alive if the green haired boy meant to kill them. He was moving too fast for most of them to track and he was fighting evenly against Rigardo, who was a former Number Two.

Flora spoke first, "I think we should trust him. For now."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

It had started snowing, Noah idly noted, watching the blood drip from his claws to stain the pristine white ground. The few slashes that Rigardo had managed to land on him had already healed over, causing the green haired boy to smirk. Unfortunately for the former Number Two, Rigardo was an offensive type, and his wounds were slow to close over.

Noah tilted his head, and started bouncing the blood spattered arm in his hand up and down, "I have to admit, you're not as fast as I was expecting."

Rigardo growled at him, clenching one clawed hand around the stump that was all that was left of his right arm. The brat was too fast to be a lower level single digit. "What rank were you?"

Noah smiled condescendingly at him, "Former Number One, Noah."

Rigardo froze. An Abyssal One? It wasn't possible. Someone would have known, the burst of yoki would have been felt over most of the continent. "You're lying. Isley is the only male Abyssal One."

Noah grinned cruelly, "Is he now?" The green haired boy let the yoki flow in his eyes increase, causing them to turn completely green and begin to glow. It was something only an Abyssal One could do, each of them having a different colour.

Rigardo felt the first flicker of true fear. Against a lower level single digit, even with only one arm, he could still win. But against an Abyssal One . . . there wasn't a chance. The only way to survive was to run. He'd learned that the hard way after coming up against Isley . . . and that woman.

The lion-like being's eyes flickered to the right, and as Noah tensed, he dashed off, pouring all of his power into his legs. The Abyssal One just smiled predatorily and took off after him.

Rigardo tried to avoid the barrage of tendrils, but this time, he was moving too fast to be able to dodge properly. There was a burst of purple mist as three tendrils burst through his chest, and he gasped for breath as he was jerked to a stop.

Noah slowly approached, cautious of any surprise attacks. Rigardo just turned to look at him over his shoulder, "You may have beaten me, but against that woman . . . . you don't have a chance."

Noah cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really? Can the One Horned woman really face two Abyssal Ones and win, all by herself?"

Rigardo's silence was telling, and Noah smirked, the lack on an answer was telling. By now, the green haired boy was within arms reach of the lion like being, and in a last desperate attack, Rigardo lashed out with his claws, aiming for Noah's head.

There was a blur, and a soft thump as Rigardo's remaining arm fell to the ground and stained it darkish purple. Noah just tutted as his tendrils withdrew from the former Number Two's body, and began to coil around the lion-like being. "A fighter to the finish." He smirked at the captive Awakened being, and began to tighten his hold, cutting into flesh and muscle. "I guess this the end for you, Silver-Eyed Lion King."

Rigardo said nothing in his final moments, watching the Abyssal one with a fiery glare as he was shredded to pieces. Torn and ripped chunks of flesh fell to the ground in a spray of purple blood, and Noah withdrew his yoki, returning his arms to their human state.

He looked at the pieces of the Awakened being pensively, "Waste not . . ." He muttered. He crouched down and reached for a hunk of flesh.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

The Claymore's all swivelled their heads to the north when they felt Rigardo's yoki surge and then die away.

Miria's eyes widened, "He did it . . ." She said in a small whisper.

No one said anything for a second, sensing Noah's yoki fade to nothing, leaving them seemingly alone in Pieta.

"It's over." Clare said, a slight hint of relief colouring her voice. There was no doubt in her mind that Noah hadn't survived the battle. The Abyssal one hadn't come close to releasing all of his power during the fight.

"No, it's not." They all turned to look at the Number Six ranked warrior, "There's still the Organisation and their watchers." The hopeful mood that had been building was crushed by the Claymore's statement.

Jean spoke first, "Your back up plan of the yoki suppressants won't work now. They would've sensed the Awakened beings leaving, and if our yoki auras disappeared now, well, it wouldn't make sense and they'd send warriors to investigate."

Undine snorted, "I say we take our chances. The sensors wouldn't be strong enough to take us out. We should run now."

They all considered it before Miria shook her head, "No, we don't know what forces they have. It could just be a sensor, but it could also be a group, or even a single digit."

A shiver went down the spines of the group. The only single digits not present were the top five, and not even Miria could hope to defeat one of them.

There was a silent rush of air, and the Claymore's spun around, drawing their blades only to find Noah leaning against the door way of the building.

Undine and Flora tightened their grips on their swords. The Awakened being was covered in blood, purple blood to Flora's silent relief, while Undine was to enraged to notice.

"You won't have to worry about those sensor's any more."

Helen blinked, "Really?" The others froze as they understood the true meaning behind his words.

"You bastard!" Undine roared as she dashed forwards, blades poised to slash at the Awakened being.

Noah didn't even appear move, and the Number Eleven was sent flying back into the wall, leaving a patch of crushed bricks as she slid to the floor, swords still clutched in her hands. She coughed several times as pain blossomed in her chest.

The rest of them froze as Noah frowned impatiently, "Now, if you're finished, we need to leave. It won't be long before the Organisation sends a squad to find the missing sensors."

Clare sheathed her sword, "Where are we going?"

Noah shrugged, watching Undine struggle to her feet, "It's up to you I suppose, although West is the safest option."

Flora frowned as she watched the Number Eleven ranked warrior glare fiercely at the boy, "Why West?"

"Riful rules over the West."

Flora gaped, "You want to go towards an Abyssal One?"

The boy just laughed, "Riful and I have an alliance, I'm perfectly safe in her territory."

Undine spoke gruffly, "What about us? I bet you're just leading us into a trap."

Noah shook his head, "You're under my protection for now, and Riful knows better than to cross me."

Flora stared at him, "And you think you can go against an Abyssal One of her power? You may have beaten Rigardo, but Riful is in a different league entirely."

Jean spoke quietly, "Noah is a former Number One, in other words, he is the fourth Abyssal One."

The Number Eight ranked warrior gaped at the boy, fearfully shuffling back. Noah just smirked and turned to Miria, "So, where to?"

Miria thought for a moment. The Organisation was based in the East, so that was out, and trying to head to the South would bring them through to many regions protected by Claymore's, and they wouldn't be able to avoid them all. So, that left only the West and the North.

On one hand, the North was almost deserted, but . . . they still didn't know where Isley was or his mysterious woman. While in the West, they had a much larger chance of survival with Noah on their side.

She nodded, "West it is then."

Noah nodded, a small smile on his face, "I knew you'd see it my way."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Hope you liked it :) Please tell me what you thought or even if you thought it needs to be scrapped and rewritten.

Phoenix


	10. Les Champs De Lavande

Disclaimer: Do not own!

AN: Please enjoy the chapter :)

Orchamus: That's ok :) It was a good try. Clare's going to develop differently, with a different location and with Flora still alive. Thanks for reviewing :)

crazy88: Thanks :) I'm not to sure what to do at the moment with her partial Awakening, it probably won't show up for a while, Thanks for reviewing :)

marc: Thank you so much :) All the Awakened beings had moved on, they were needed to go and assault the West and the East respectively, plus none of them expected Rigardo to have any trouble with the Claymores. I figured that the Organisation would send a squad of Claymores to keep an eye on the battle, and I originally had a small scene where Noah tracked them down and killed them, but I scrapped it :) Thanks so much for reviewing :)

kyuubicannon: Thanks for pointing that out :) I went and fixed it :) Thanks so much for reviewing :)

storyreaderlovespie: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks :) and thanks for reviewing :)

algebraiya: Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks for reviewing :)

Freehawk: Thanks a lot :) Thanks for reviewing.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_You are sweet and tender  
(Ton odeur à toi, mon amour, mon amour)  
You fill my senses, you fill my soul  
Oh, my soul, oh, my soul_

_Des ombres de bleu et de violet_  
_Shades of blue, shades of purple_  
_Des ombres de bleu et de violet_  
_Shades of blue, shades of purple_

_Les champs de lavande_  
_Ton odeur à toi, mon amour_  
_Est l'odeur de lavande_  
_Est l'odeur de lavande_

_~Les Champs De Lavande, Leaves' Eyes_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

It took several days for them to move out of the North territory and into the West, with the unconscious Claymores weighing them down. They woke up after the second day of running, but Uma, Cynthia and Queenie had to be carried, and Zelda and Tabitha were still wounded enough to slow them down.

It was an uncomfortable trip, with Noah constantly flitting around them like a ghost. Most of the partially Awakened group had no problem with him, but his presence made the others anxious, particularly Undine. Several times she'd gone to attack him and only found herself cutting through empty air, the sound of the boy's laughter echoing around the desolate landscape.

They'd reached the beginning of the Western mountain ranges when they felt a massive yoki aura blooming to the south-west. Clare paled slightly as she recognised it.

Riful

Noah turned to face the warriors, "There's a cave a few hundred metres up ahead, go in there and don't come out until I return." He didn't give any of them time to answer before he leaped into the air and disappeared in an enormous burst of yoki, large enough become visible and send ripples of red energy across the sky.

They all stared for a second, amazed at how fast the Abyssal had moved, before Miria started to lead them towards the cave Noah had mentioned. Not even Undine was protesting the decision.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

"It's been a long time, Dauf." The enormous dark-red Awakened being looked at others surrounding him, at least twelve other Awakened beings.

Dauf glanced at the speaker dismissively, which caused the four-eyed being to tense in anger, "It looks like the former Number Three has fallen on hard times, hiding out here in the wastelands. Isley, Rigardo and you never got along, even before the Mass Awakening."

Dauf looked at him, "I'm surprised Rigardo even agreed to work with you guys."

"Yeah, he used to think of himself as Isley's superior, he even tracked him down and challenged him to a fight after Awakening. Isley beat the pulp out of him, and he pledged his loyalty to Isley and became his general. You would've have had a place in the ranks, but you rebelled and ran off with that girl from the West-" There was a sickening crunch as a thick pole smashed through the Awakened beings skull.

Dauf closed his mouth, "Sorry, your talking was so boring, it made me yawn."

The other Awakened beings glared and muttered, some of them uncoiling and extending their tendrils in preparation for battle.

There was a loud whoosh as dozens of ribbon like tendrils stabbed through the Awakened beings. A soft, child-like giggle rang out from Dauf's shoulder, "You don't seem to get it . . . Isley and me, we're so far above the rest of you . . ."

"Riful of the West." An Awakened being, spiralling horns adorning its head, tore free of the Abyssal One's tendrils and dashed forwards. It managed to get within a few feet of Dauf before the former Number Three lashed out and removed its head from its shoulders. The head bounced several times, before more of Riful's tendrils pinned it to the ground.

Riful smiled innocently at the rest of the terrified Awakened beings, "You're just pawns to us, something to use and throw away." And with that, she twisted her Awakened arm, and ripped the Awakened beings to shreds.

"You're such a cynical little girl."

Riful turned her head to look as Noah dropped from the sky to land on Dauf's other shoulder. "Did you enjoy your little trip to the North?"

Noah glanced around at the splattered corpses of Isley's army, "It was a success, Isley's forces were thinned out, and Rigardo is dead."

Riful tilted her head as she looked at him, a flicker of surprise running through her eyes, "Congratulations. Isley's lost almost all of his forces now, you know."

Noah smiled, "Apart from the One-Horned woman."

They both turned to look towards the South as several massive bursts of yoki drew their attention. Both of them leapt into the air, Riful's tendrils trailing behind for a second as they caught and dragged Dauf behind her as he transformed into human form.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

"I've wanted to see you for so long, and I wanted to apologise. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Luciela pulled her sister closer, tears streaming down her face, "No, It's not your fault. It's-"

"Now, isn't this a touching scene?"

Rafaela quickly stood, pushing the weakened Luciela behind her. She regretted dropping her sword, but she wasn't defenceless without it.

A boy stepped out from behind a tree, and Rafaela frowned. He was hiding his yoki even better than she was able to, and that meant that he was a fairly old Awakened being. The possibility of him being human was laughable, no human would be able to sneak up on her, even with her as distracted as she was.

"Who are you?" Luciela called out from behind her sister.

He smiled, "I don't really think that matters at the moment." He blurred out of sight, and the last thing either of the women saw was a pair of glowing green eyes.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Riful landed without a sound, Dauf dropping to the ground with a thump behind her. Isley and Luciela's battle had ravaged the landscape for miles, and there were clouds of dust floating around the battle field.

Riful blinked slowly as another form dropped out of the sky behind Isley, who was kneeling, bloody and battered on the ground. It was a young girl, dressed in a snow white dress, with short spiky hair, she rested her hand on Isley's back.

The silver haired Abyssal One relaxed slowly, and Riful narrowed her eyes. She had a suspicion who this girl was, and if she was right, then she was going to need Noah.

Isley smiled triumphantly, "It's too late . . . . my objective was already complete the second I started the fight with Luciela. It's futile now. No matter how many strong Awakened beings you gather, no matter how many strong warriors the Organisation creates." Isley raised his head to look at her as Prisclla stopped supressing her powers. Riful felt a quiver of fear, the girl's powers surpassed even her own. "It's all too late."

"No one can kill Priscilla now."

The two Abyssal Ones stared at each other, until Riful threw back her head and laughed.

Isley scowled at the young looking girl, and with Priscilla's help, pulled himself to his feet. "I don't see how any of this is funny."

Riful's laughter slowly died away, "I think you're overestimating your pet, you know."

Isley's scowled deepened, but then disappeared when he caught sight of a silhouette moving in the dust clouds behind Riful and Dauf. The figure moved forwards until it stood next to Riful, and Isley's confusion just increased at the sight of the boy.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Isley, Silver-White King of the North." The boy smiled slightly as he bowed mockingly.

"Who are you?" Isley clenched a fist. Prisclla was more than strong enough to kill Riful and her two Awakened minions, but something about this boy put him on edge.

The boy smiled, "I am former Number One, Noah." Riful and Noah uncloaked their yoki and the sheer size of it was overwhelming, almost forcing Dauf to his knees.

Isley gritted his teeth, "That's impossible! The whole continent would have felt the Awakening of a new Abyssal One!" Priscilla was beginning to tense, and the situation was spiralling out of control.

Riful's eyes were beginning to glow red with all of the power she was releasing, "So much for for your grand plan. Defeating Luciela may have been the smart move, but with Noah, your plans fallen apart, you know?"

Isley growled at them, and started to transform again, pulling as much yoki together as he could, when suddenly Priscilla grabbed him. He barely had time to glance at her before they were moving through the sky at incredible speeds.

Back at the Abyssal battlefield, Noah and Riful allowed their yoki to fade away, cloaking it once again. The brown haired girl looked at the other Abyssal One, "You took your time, you know. What were you doing?"

Noah started walking away, and Riful hurried to catch up, with Dauf ambling along behind her.

"Just in case I didn't get here in time, and Isley's so-called 'subordinate'." He gave Riful a withering look, which she just shrugged off. How was she to know the stories were false? "Tore you apart, I wanted to have a back up plan."

Riful glared at him lightly, but she had to concede the point. If Priscilla had attacked straight away, there's no telling if she would have survived. That girl was a monster.

She huffed quietly, "So what's your back up plan?"

Noah led them through the forest, down to a shallow stream. He pointed to one of the two prone bodies lying on the banks of the stream, "She is."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Thanks for reading :) Because no one managed to guess the manga (Negima? By the way) I'm not giving anyone is particular the prize. But, if people leave recommendations for pairings and fandoms in their reviews, I'll try and write some one shots.

If theres anything that doesn't make sense, leave it in a review, and I'll pm or answer it in the next chapter. This chapter was kind of a filler chapter, so its a bit shorter than normal.

Phoenix


	11. Iron

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Claymore, neither the manga or the anime

AN: Wow, I want to thank everyone for all their reviews :) It's been a bright point for me over the last few weeks :) And I can't thank you all enough.

Anywhoo, here are the review replies. If you signed in and I already answered your review, then I apologise.

Orchamus: I still haven't decided :) You're a smart one :) Theoretically (sorry if I'm spoiling the manga) because Jean never died and placed the mental block that prevented Clare from partially Awakening again. So she's weaker in the fact that she doesn't know she can partially Awaken and kick some serious ass, but in the long run, she's stronger because she still has the potential to do it. Thanks so much for reviewing :)

marc: You have an excellent point. In fact, your review is pretty much the reason why this chapter is out so soon :) I wanted to just write an AN chapter to answer it, but that would've been unfair, so this is a sort of filler chapter instead :) I think Priscilla is pretty overpowered in the manga. The Abyssal One's aren't push overs, but Priscilla ploughs through them like they're Rank 40s? I don't think so. In this, Priscilla is more powerful than a single Abyssal One, but it remains to be seen how well she'll go against a few of them ;) thanks for the great review.

betrayal: thanks, and thanks for the review :)

Melchor: Uhuh :) I have plans for the both of them, but I'm not entirely sure of what I'm going to do with them :) Thanks for the review :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks :) Priscilla isn't all there, as has been shown in the manga and the anime. She doesn't really see the world like any one else. She doesn't care about Riful, or Noah, basically, she was just keeping Isley alive. She's like a child at that point, and without any serious threat to push her mind into that unstoppable killing machine mode, she's got no reason to waste her time. Thanks for the review :)

algebraiya: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks for the review :)

storyreaderlovespie: You have a very good point :) Hopefully I solved that in this chapter, but like always, if it's not satisfactory, tell me, and I'll rewrite the chapter :) Noah's done nothing to seem even irritated by Undine's attempts to kill him, and she doesn't exactly want to draw his attention to Undine. Thanks for reviewing :)

kyuubicannon: Thanks :) And thanks for reviewing as well :)

Freehawk: Thanks so much, I'll try :) Thanks for the review :)

Neferius: I'm sorry if Noah seems a bit too perfect. In my defence, he's never really been up against someone of his caliber. He's never fought another Abyssal One, and he's never fought Priscilla. Rigardo and Dauf are no where near the league of an Abyssal One. He'll start to seem a little bit more realistic in future chapters, hopefully. Thanks for the review :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_Left in the darkness_

_Here on your own_

_Woke up a memory_

_Feeling the pain_

_You cannot deny it_

_There's nothing to say_

_It's all that you need to find the way_

_Oh Damn, the war is coming!_

_Oh Damn, you feel you want it!_

_Oh Damn, just bring it on today!_

_You can't live without the fire_

_It's the heat that makes you strong_

_'Cause you're born to live and fight it all the way_

_You can hide what lies inside you_

_It's the only thing you know_

_You're embracing that, never walk away_

_Don't walk away_

_~Iron, Within Temptation_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Riful walked over towards the unconscious girls, "And how do you think you're going to be able to control Luciela once she wakes up? She may be the youngest Abyssal One, but she's not exactly weak, you know."

Noah stepped up besides her, "Luciela has the biggest reason to hate Isley out of all of us. I'm hoping that she'll cooperate."

She looked at him, "And if she doesn't?"

The boy shrugged as he walked over and picked up both girls, one over each shoulder, "I'm sure between the two of us, we'll manage to work something out."

He disappeared with a flare of yoki, and Dauf barely had time to yelp before he was dragged into the sky by Riful's tendrils.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Undine flinched as Miria slammed her against the cave wall, the smaller woman easily holding the generously muscled Number Eleven against the cold stone. "Enough, Undine!"

She opened her mouth to argue with the team leader, but Miria cut her off, "This isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves, and all you're doing by attacking Noah is wasting time and effort. You're not going to manage to land a hit on him, Undine, and like it or not, at the moment our chances of survival greatly increase with him on our side."

She dropped the larger woman to the ground, her normally calm and collected demeanour replaced an icy cold and serious persona, "Are you with us, Undine? Or will you allow stupidity to cloud your judgement?"

Undine didn't answer, pulling herself to her feet and roughly pushing past Miria to leave the cave.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

The Number Eleven ranked warrior stomped along, kicking at rocks every now and again, muttering under her breath about the idiocy of her 'comrades'. Her hands were clenched into fists so hard that it seemed like her knuckles would burst through her skin.

"Lost your way little girl?"

She spun around, trying to pinpoint the source of the rasping voice, when suddenly she felt a presence appear behind her. Undine whirled around, drawing her swords and slashing through the figure that had appeared. A proper glance revealed it to be an ordinary yoma, severed through the waist, with a surprised look on its face.

"You should know better than to let your guard down, Undine."

The warrior spun around again, growling. Deneve was leaning against the rocks, watching her calmly. She had volunteered to go and keep an eye on the bulky Claymore, not that there were many others to offer. Undine's harsh personality made sure of that.

The Number Eleven snarled at her, "What are you doing out here, Deneve? Go back inside with the rest of the yoma-lovers!"

The short haired woman ignored the sharp words that Undine half-shouted at her. Deneve could see the hurt that she was trying to hide under her normal bluster and brashness.

"He's not really that bad."

Undine turned to face the other woman disbelievingly, "You're kidding me?"

Deneve shook her head, "He saved Helen. Back in Pieta. He even helped Jean come back from Awakening. And he killed Rigardo."

"But he's-" Undine protested weakly.

"Not human. Yes, and no one's saying you have to like him." Deneve reassured her softly, "But like Miria said, he is our best chance of surviving. The number of warriors or Awakened beings that could defeat him can be counted on one hand."

Undine glared at her, trying to come up with an argument. She knew that they needed the Abyssal One, but just having the thing around pissed her off to no end.

"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try and stay away from it."

Deneve gave her a measuring look, before finally nodding. She gave Undine a small smile, "Come on, we should head back to the cave."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

There was a light thump as Noah landed, the two women slumped over his shoulders barely being jolted as his knees absorbed the impact. Riful didn't make a sound as she landed, although Dauf hit the ground with a heavy thud and promptly fell to the ground.

Noah glanced at the heavy-set man, and smirked, before setting off for the cave. He could sense two of the Claymores not too far away from the cave, the short haired partially Awakened one, and the brutish one.

Now, there was a warrior with a serious grudge. Her attempts to kill him were amusing, but if she didn't cut it out soon, he was going to stop dodging, and start hitting her back.

The assembled Claymore's had their swords drawn as the three Awakened beings entered the cave. Riful's idiot of a man was fairly incapable at repressing his yoki, and it wasn't a surprise they had felt him coming.

He glanced around. None of them looked like they were injured, apart from the girl who'd lost her fore arm and hand, which was had already started regenerating. The benefits of being a monster.

Miria took a step forwards, along with Clare, "Who're they?" Her guarded stare swept over the two unconscious girls slung over Noah's shoulders, then over Riful, then finally Dauf, who bristled under the Number Six's stare.

Noah, lowered Luciela to the ground first, and then the warrior, and sat them up against the cave wall. The eyes of the warrior's all widened as they caught a glimpse of the warrior's symbol.

"Rafaela . . ."

The words slipped out of Clare's mouth slightly quieter than a whisper, but it was still heard by everyone in the cave. Riful and Noah turned to face her.

The female Abyssal One glanced over the girls assembled, "How come you guys know who she is?"

Clare shrugged slightly, keeping a close eye on the Abyssal One. She could still remember the seemingly innocent little girl's power, and although she probably couldn't come close to matching that, she would still give it her all if she had to fight her.

Riful could see the look the girl with the bob cut was giving her, and she smirked slightly. She was about to speak to the girl when Noah turned and gave her a look, one that clearly said, _back off_.

She raised her hands innocently, and just smiled sweetly back at him. Maybe she could just poach one of the others later if he was so possessive of the girl. The one from before, the one that almost Awakened . . . . yes, she'd be powerful enough to serve Riful's purpose.

Noah must have noticed something, because suddenly he was behind her, a movement that caused everyone to tense.

"I recommend you keep your hands to yourself, Riful. You wouldn't want to have them cut off."

She blinked innocently at him, as if saying, '_misbehave? Me?'_, but Noah simply glared at her. The female Abyssal One gave a quiet huff, and walked back over to Dauf, grumbling, under her breath the whole way.

The green haired boy turned back to face Clare, "So, what do you know about her?"

Jean was the one to answer, "Rafaela is the Number Five ranked warrior within the Organisation."

Noah smirked, "Is that so? Hmm . . . . . ." He trailed off, and began to walk towards the two unconscious women.

Clare walked over to his side, "Who's the other girl?" The fact that the red headed girl was naked was ignored by everyone, save for Dauf, who sneaked little glances every time he thought Riful wasn't paying attention.

Noah's answer caused the assembled eyes to widen, and for one of the lower ranked warrior's to drop her sword.

"Luciela, Abyssal One of the South."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

I'm a bastard for such a short chapter, but this is mainly a filler chapter, so I can rev up for the canon time skip, which is where I'm really gonna move away from the manga storyline.

I'm kinda depressed at the moment, so, to keep me distracted, I'm going to try to write a one shot for every one who reviews this chapter. If you want me to write you one, tell me in a review, what fandom you want, and if you want a pairing. If I'm not able to write for that fandom, I'll tell you.

Thanks


	12. Euphoria Firefly

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Claymore, I only own Noah

AN: It's been a while, but I hope that people are still enjoying it :)

DZ: Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the review :)

carlsniper: Uhhhhh, no? Clare and Raki will _most _ likely be paired together, I'm not entirely sure. Noah and Galatea? Pretty unlikely. I don't have any plans for Noah being in a pairing, because this story isn't really about the pairings. However, I hope that no one throws a hissy fit at me, Because Luciela and Rafaela are going to be _pretty _close in this story, and I don't want anyone to freak out about it. However, Riful and Dauf are together :D Not that it really matters, because Dauf doesn't get a lot of screen time in this . . . . . .

Orchamus: Ahahaha, thanks :) And thanks for reviewing :)

marc: Thanks :) I'm sorry, it just seems to be the right place to end it, so my apologies for the chapter length. I hope you're still enjoying it anyway, and thanks for reviewing :)

Freehawk: Good question. Answer? It's Riful :P She's spent more then twenty years (in my story anyway, according to cannon she's tortured and killed around 27 Claymores or something trying to get one to Awaken) capturing and killing Claymores, she's an Abyssal One at the top of the food chain, and honestly, the only one that's a threat to her is Miria, and that is a tiny little threat at that. Plus, Noah just brought her a surplus of potential soldiers, what's not to her advantage about the situation? Thanks for reviewing and I hope that answered your question :)

storyreaderlovespie: Very good :) Miria probably would think of that, excellent leader that she is :) And you're right, all that Miria really knows (and that's more than most of the others know at this point) is that Noah is willing to help them against Rigardo, is friendly towards Clare and Jeane, and can kill them all :) Thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks :) I'm glad you liked it, I always hope that my explanations make sense and are satisfying, because my reasons don't always make sense, and I tend to ramble, thanks for reviewing :)

kyuubicannon: Thanks for reviewing :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_I feel a stirring deep within  
Slowly picking up momentum  
Like the tide coming into shore  
Over and under in its course  
This feeling emblazed inside  
Every nerve like a firefly  
Hovering above me  
Glow  
Glowing, divine_

_Every nerve like a firefly_  
_Every nerve like a firefly_  
_This feeling emblazed inside_  
_Every nerve like a firefly_  
_I never want to lose_  
_what I have finally found_  
_There's a requiem, a new congregation_

_And it's telling me_  
_Go forward and walk_  
_Under a brighter sky_  
_Every nerve glowing like a firefly_

_~Euphoria (Firefly), Delerium_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

The sound of angry voices accompanied Rafaela's return to consciousness, along with the feeling of almost a dozen unfamiliar yoki auras surrounding her. She carefully concealed any signs that she had woken, and took inventory of any injuries, of which there were none thankfully.

Whoever had attacked her had been stupid enough to leave her sword still in it's sheath, and her sister was pressed close to her side. A plan quickly formed in her mind, and when it seemed like the presence's inside the cave were distracted, she opened her eye and sprang to her feet, increasing her yoki as she quickly blurred out of the cave, carrying her unconscious sister with her.

Several of the presence's followed her, but only one of them was managing to keep up with her. Rafaela allowed herself a small smile in triumph, certain that even that one would fall behind. She hadn't been Number Two for nothing, and it was doubtful that any of the presence's had been ranked higher than a low single digit.

Unfortunately for her, the Number Five ranked warrior came to a dead end, surrounded by cliffs that were beyond even her ability to jump. She reached up to unsheathe her sword, when a voice rang out.

"You're much too fast to be Number Five, Rafaela. I think someone's been telling lies."

She turned around slowly, gripping her sword tightly in her hand and making sure that she had a tight grip on Luciela. "Who are you, and why did you kidnap me?"

A boy stepped into the dead end, a smug smile spreading across his face, but stayed silent. Rafaela yanked her sword out, and levelled it at the boy with a steady hand, "Answer me!"

The boy's smile grew, and he disappeared. Rafaela spun around, and slashed, almost cutting the boy's arm off before he spun away.

Noah landed several metres away, blood gushing from the cut through his upper arm. He grinned at Rafaela, the wound quickly closing over, "Well, well, well . . . . . what rank were you really, Rafaela? Number Three?"

She gritted her teeth, she'd never seen an Awakened being regenerate so fast, and that included Luciela in her Awakened form. "Number Two."

Noah whistled, "Impressive." He disappeared. "But . . . ."

Rafaela prepared for an attack, but Noah completely by passed her. The former Number Two spun, and saw the green haired boy reaching for her sister. She blurred into action, slashing at the boy's head before planting a foot into his stomach hard enough to send him flying.

She stood in front of Luciela, single eye narrowed in rage, "You will not touch her!" for the first time in decades, Rafaela's yoki started to emanate from her body, faint blue-purple swirls of light rising from her skin.

Noah pushed himself off of the ground, wiping a trickle of purple blood from his chin. "If it's a fight you want . . . ."

The green haired boy disappeared, and Rafaela felt something smash into her back, causing her ribs to creak under the strain. The blow sent her flying through the air, and the Number Five ranked warrior barely managed to land her feet, gasping as she struggled to get oxygen back into her lungs.

The boy smirked, "Then it's a fight you'll get."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Miria stopped for a second to catch her breath. Rafaela was much faster than she'd expected, and it had taken several 'jumps' to even catch up.

Had she underestimated the top single ranked digits? Rafaela was only ranked Five, but far more powerful than she'd though possible.

The short haired woman was managing to hold her own against Noah, even though she was reaching the eighty percent limit of yoki use, while Noah was barely using enough to match her. The Abyssal One looked more amused than anything else by Rafaela's efforts, although he was fairly blood spattered, most of it a familiar purple colour. The colour of yoma blood.

She was poised to draw her sword, when a hand on her arm stopped her. She whipped her head to the side to see the little brown haired girl that had entered the cave with Noah standing besides her. "What are you doing?" The Number Six hissed at her, tugging at her arm, trying to free it from the girl's iron grip.

"Don't interfere, little girl." Riful's mouth quirked at the irony, "Noah is perfectly capable of dealing with the cyclops on his own, and you'll only get in his way if you try to help."

Several Claymores, Deneve and Undine by the feel of their yoki, with the the rest following close behind, landed on the ground behind the Abyssal One and her captive. Too quick for most of them too follow, Riful's free arm lashed out, and suddenly morphed into dozens of deep green tendrils, wrapping around the assembled warriors.

She grinned innocently as they struggled to free themselves, "Actually, I think it would be best if none of you interfere in this. You might spoil it, you know."

Clare glared at her, "Spoil what?" She almost spat the words, trying in vain to reach for her sword.

Riful didn't even turn to the short haired Claymore, completely engrossed in the fight, a mixed look of irritation, envy and pride playing across her face. "Noah is about to achieve the one thing I could never accomplish, even after almost two decades of failed attempts, you know."

Clare was torn between watching the Abyssal One, or turning her attention to the fight ahead, but eventually she spoke, voice still filled with venom. "And what is that?"

"Forcing a high-ranked Claymore into Awakening."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah panted lightly as dozens of cuts all over his body hissed and closed. Rafaela had lost none of her skills over the years, despite only having one eye. Having a sword put her on par with Rigardo in his Awakened form, and combined with the fact that Noah didn't want to kill her, it was a surprisingly difficult battle.

He took in the bruised and bleeding form of the Claymore in front of him, grimacing as her yoki became stronger, and even more visible to the naked eye. He gritted his teeth and lunged, silently reminding himself that this really was for the best.

He ducked under a slash that would have neatly decapitated him, and kicked the short haired warrior, knocking her back a few paces. Noah bit back a growl as he jumped out a of retaliation strike.

She was already starting to change physically, that kick should have sent her flying, and if he was a normal Claymore, he would have broken a bone or two in his foot. Just a little bit more, and she'd be too far gone to prevent herself from Awakening.

He looked around himself, and seeing the miraculously unconscious body of Luciela, dashed towards it, keeping a close eye on Rafaela.

Like he had predicted, the warrior dashed towards her sister, and mid-leap, exploded into a supernova of yoki, almost blinding everyone watching. An enormous column of red, blue and purple light ascended into the sky, and Noah was forced to leap backwards as shock waves started tearing up the earth around the Awakening warrior and her sister, who was eclipsed in the light.

Riful leaned forwards, a hungry light in her eyes. "Beautiful . . . ." She whispered, and Miria was too terrified to even feel disgusted at her attitude. The sheer amount of yoki would have been frightening enough, it was comparable to that of Rigardo, but the malice pouring out of the Awakening warrior was enough to render her speechless.

Some of the lower ranked warriors weren't faring as well, and would have fled if not for Riful's tendrils restraining them.

Clare was shaking, her mind filled with flashbacks to that day in the mountains. If anything Priscilla's Awakening had felt even more powerful than this, but it was lacking . . . . . . . blood-lust.

Priscilla's enormous yoki surge that accompanied her Awakening was . . . . emotionless. It was as if she had been completely apathetic to everything, including Teresa's death. And somehow that scared Clare, the fact someone could be so uncaring to becoming a monster.

They all watched as the light gradually faded away, small wisps of vicious red yoki swirling around the large form crouched in the centre of a jagged crater.

Riful licked her lips, staring hungrily at the newly Awakened Rafaela, eyes sweeping over the transformed girl.

Rafaela rose to her feet slowly, and Riful carefully examined her. Rafaela was still remarkably human looking, her form completely covered in a stark white armour, with occasional red streaks. There was a narrow crack where her mouth should have been, and a thick strip of blackness, with a pair of luminescent golden eyes staring out. The back of her skull was unprotected, thick blood-red hair spiking our to form a jagged mane at the back of her head.

A pale human form was cradled in her arms, and everyone froze as Luciela fought her way back into conciousness. Her large emerald green eyes fluttered, and Rafaela bent closer to her sister, an unknown emotion flickering in her gaze.

Their eyes met, and Luciela smiled slowly, "Rafaela . . ." She muttered, reaching up to caress her sister's face. Noah and Riful watched in amazement as Rafaela's eyes slid shut, and she leaned into her sister's touch.

"Soulbond."

Noah turned around to stare at Riful, "What did you say?"

Riful didn't even look at him, staring at the two sister's with complete fascination, "For years the Organisation has tried to create the perfect warrior, able to Awaken at will, yet still remain in control. The latest attempt was by using siblings, where they would synchronise their yoki and merge their minds, and when one Awakened, the other would harbour their mind until they transformed back. Luciela and Rafaela were the closest to completing that experiment, until in the final test, Rafaela couldn't hold both her mind and that of her sister's and the link broke. Luciela fully Awakened, and rampaged throughout the East, devastating the Organisation and killing over half their warriors."

Everyone tried to digest that piece of information, while Luciela broke the staring contest and turned to look at Noah.

She smiled, and pushed herself out of Rafaela's arms, landing on her feet smoothly. The Awakened being growled, but didn't grab the Abyssal One again, following her closely while keeping a defensive stance behind her sister.

She stopped, and cocked a hip, folding her arms under her substantial chest. "And who might you be?"

Noah shifted, narrowing his eyes. Luciela might be extremely weakened, but the confidence she was showing was slightly . . . . unnerving.

"My name is Noah."

She smiled predatorily, blinking slowly, "And should that mean something to me?"

Noah smirked, and flared his yoki. For a second, an enormous presence covered the area, and everyone except Riful was left shaken and wide-eyed. Luciela's calm demeanour was blown, jade green eyes staring into Noah's milky green orbs. "Impossible!"

Noah shook his head, "No, not impossible, just improbable. After all, no one would expect an Abyssal One to retain enough control over his yoki to mask his Awakening." He smirked at her.

Luciela took a deep breath, "What do you want then?" She took a small step back towards her sister, who shifted, growling quietly.

Noah gave Rafaela a look, and flared his yoki again, directing it towards to Awakened being. Rafaela's growl cut off, and she whimpered slightly, much to Noah's satisfaction.

"I propose an alliance."

Luciela stared at him, then threw back her head and laughed. Noah waited for her to finish, and took the chance to further examine the newly Awakened Rafaela. There was a strange series of holes ringed around her wrists, extending up to her forearms. The pattern was matched on her legs, leading from around her ankles to her knees. Noah absently wondered if the holes had a function, perhaps that was where her tendrils sprouted from?

Finally, Luciela calmed down enough to speak. "An alliance? Between us? And I suppose you would be in command?"

Noah shook his head, "No, Luciela, I don't mean for you become my lieutenant, I meant an equal partnership between myself, you and Riful."

Luciela cocked her head, intrigued despite her doubts, "And what would the purpose of this alliance be?"

Noah looked directly into her eye. "The elimination of the White Silver King of the North, Isley, and his lover, the One Horned Woman, Priscilla."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

And that's the end of that chapter. I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to be written, but I honestly hadn't noticed how long it had been since I last updated :( Sorry.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed it, leave any questions or complaints in a review :)

Phoenix


	13. Memories

DISCLAIMER: I Do Not Own

AN: Sorry it took so long. I was going to finish this over the holidays, except work gave me a tonne of shifts every week, and I just didn't have any inspiration. Standard warning. If you don't like it, tell me and I may be able to rewrite it as something better.

Orchamus: Thank you kindly good sir :) Hmm, good point, but no, it's not. Riful is with Dauf (Creepy pairing) While I don't know if I'm going to pair Clare with Raki. I have no idea if I'm even going to do any other pairings. Any recommendations?

Nexus the 13th: Good point :) I'm basing the assumption over how large and intense Priscilla's Awakening was. Surely even a normal human would be able to sense something of that magnitude? Even the landscape starts to be affected a little by that amount of yoki if I remember correctly.

Freehawk: Thank you so much, and thanks for reviewing again :)

marc: Thanks :) They established it before, the problem was that Rafaela couldn't contain her sisters mind to protect it from Awakening, and therefore she completely Awakened and went on a prompt rampage. However, now they are both Awakened beings, and Luciela has the main control over the bond, although they can both share feelings through it. So, it's a bit like a empathic twin-bond, although there is potential in it for more. I'll try :)

DBZLOVER: Thanks so much for reviewing :) I'm glad you're enjoying it :) That's good, I tend to ramble and go off on tangents, so I'm always a bit afraid I'm not making sense :P

algebraiya: Ahahaha, really? That's good, I'm glad I'm writing unexpected things :) Surprising people is always fun. :) Hopefully I'll have a few more surprises in store :) Thanks for reviewing :)

storyreaderlovespie: Thank you :) Mmmm, not too sure, it might be seeing as both Luciela and Rafaela are Awakened, meaning the potential for their bond is greater than the Twins. Do you mean Alicia and Beth?

kyuubicannon: Thank you and thanks for reviewing :)

Melchor: Mmm, I regret not updating more regularly, but I tend to fail at writing consistently, or keeping on the same project. Yay, I'm glad I'm surprising you :) I never plan out my stories, but this has been the general idea since before I started writing this :) Thanks for reviewing :)

FantasticThought: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

Taeniaea: Thanks, and thanks for reviewing :)

Remmy: Ok, Garystu, I can accept that. I like OC stories, where the OC is a main character, and is fairly powerful. The Archetype Association is a brilliant example. Sadly, I can't write anywhere near that well, and so my OC is unbalanced, and hasn't shown many flaws yet. Deal with it. I can't change that, unless I rewrite the whole story, and you've apparently stopped reading at chapter four. So you're opinion isn't entirely relevant anyway. And secondly, fuck you. I find the idea that you think this could be a self insert very insulting. I despise self insert stories. If people want to write one, that's fine, I just won't read them. Noah is nothing like me, and was never intended to even remotely resemble me or anyone from my life. You don't know me, so don't assume anything about me.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_In this world you tried  
Not leaving me alone behind  
There's no other way  
I'll pray to the gods: let him stay_

_The memories ease the pain inside_  
_Now I know why_

_All of my memories_  
_Keep you near_  
_In silent moments_  
_Imagine you'd be here_  
_All of my memories_  
_Keep you near_  
_The silent whispers, silent tears_

_Made me promise I'd try_  
_To find my way back in this life_  
_I hope there is away_  
_To give me a sign you're okay_  
_Reminds me again_  
_It's worth it all_  
_So I can go home_

_~Memories, Within Temptation_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Luciela smirked, tilting her head slightly, "And how exactly do you propose to do that? Isley is the oldest and therefore most experienced Abyssal One. And none of us are known for giving up on what is ours."

Noah leant forwards, a small smile playing across his lips, "What makes you think Isley is the most powerful one in their relationship?"

Luciela stared at him, eyes carefully guarded, "Oh? Do tell."

Noah looked over her shoulder at the still form of Rafaela, "I think your sister should be in human form for this conversation or else she'll miss everything."

The youngest Abyssal One quirked an eyebrow, "I fail to see how _I_ can make her transform. After all, she's only just Awakened." She spoke slowly, patronising the seemingly younger boy.

Noah grinned darkly, "And yet here she is, calmly guarding you against any threats. Don't deny it, Luciela, you can feel her mind pressing against yours, just a hairsbreadth away from merging, can't you? I can feel your yoki mingling."

Luciela gritted her teeth, cursing the boy for being a sensor. It had been her plan to keep Rafaela in this form for as long as possible, let her become accustomed to her new form. Without some practice, she'd struggle to adapt from sword fighting to fighting as an Awakened being, which would leave the former Number Two far more vulnerable if Noah decided to attack.

She glared at him for a few more seconds, but the male Abyssal One refused to back down, and with a feeling of trepidation, she gently pushed thoughts through the soulbond. Rafaela's own thoughts came back, basic and almost animalistic.

It took a few minutes for Luciela to properly convey the message of what she wanted to her sister, but eventually Rafaela fully grasped the concept. With a painful sound of bones crunching and reforming, Rafaela's form shrunk as her armoured skin was reabsorbed into her body.

The former Number Two stood straight as the last few bones in her seemingly delicate form cracked back into place. Her short hair was a brilliant red, a shade darker than her sisters, and her eyes were the exact same jade green.

Luciela smiled as she felt her sister's mind slowly emerge from the haze of hunger and bestial instincts that every Awakened being was enveloped in after transforming for the first time. Ordinarily, the new Awakened being would promptly go on a rampage, fighting to sate that endless hunger for human flesh and guts. Depending on the power of the Awakened being, they might eat dozens to hundreds of humans, and this was normally where the Organisation would send out a squad to deal with them.

But if the Awakened being managed to whet the edge of their hunger first, then the haze would start to lift, and they would start to be able to function on a more human level. Most of the smart one's would return to their human form and go into hiding, sometimes joining groups of yoma or other Awakened beings.

Luciela had always been the stronger one of the two, even when had been unranked trainees. And the Organisation had seen that, and as they rose through the ranks together, selected Rafaela to be the anchor, hoping to have an Abyssal One in their ranks. But predictably, it had failed. Maybe if they'd allowed Luciela to be the anchor like she had wanted, then the experiment would have been a success.

Luciela always had been able to harbour Rafaela's mind, but the Organisation had been adamant that Rafaela could do the same, even as the weaker partner in the soulbond. And look what the cost of their mistake had been, the destruction of much of their facilities and almost half their warriors.

The two of them stood together, presenting a united front against Noah. If both of them had been at full strength, and Rafaela had more experience as an Awakened being, they would most likely have even been able to beat him. But, as they were, it was merely a symbolic gesture.

Luciela linked her hand with her sister's, entwining their fingers together. Both of them had missed the other, missed the familiar feel of the other's yoki. Rafaela felt guilty for not being able to anchor her sister, and for Luciela's subsequent Awakening. Luciela, on the other hand, felt guilty for abandoning Rafaela, for almost killing her and tearing out her eye.

But now that they were reunited, soulbond re-established, they could feel everything, the guilt and the forgiveness they held for each other, and it all didn't matter, only the fact that they were together again was important. Rafaela's scar had been erased by her Awakening, the star burst of scar-tissue nothing but a painful memory as four sets of identical jade green eyes stared at the male Abyssal One.

Noah stared blankly at the newly Awakened warrior, wondering if they would come to blows again. He was confident he could win, but another fight would only delay them, and cause tension with Luciela that could hinder them later on. Surprisingly, Rafaela just nodded sharply at him, tightening her hold on her sister's hand. Noah gave a small nod back and tried to get his mind back on track.

Riful glared lightly at the boy, and walked over to his side, Dauf not far behind. The Claymore's had been released, but warned not to run, or as Riful said, she would 'cut off their legs, drag them back and see who could manage to fully regenerate the lost limbs.'

The former Number Three was unashamedly staring at the two naked Awakened beings standing before him. The bulky man grunted in pain as a series of deep gashes opened up across his bare chest. He looked up and saw Noah glaring at him icily, and he glared back weakly before looking away to find Riful giving him a disappointed look. The male Awakened being decided it would be better if he just kept his eyes on the the ground . . . . . and maybe just peeked every now and then.

She stood and gave Luciela an assessing glance, "Are you entirely sure that we need them, Noah? I'm sure that the two of us can deal with Isley and his woman if we fight them separated from each other."

Luciela smirked, giving Riful a haughty, superior look, "And I suppose that idiotic lump of flesh is your man, Riful?"

Riful's usual calm mask dropped, and she hissed at the taller Abyssal One, "Back off, Luciela. Dauf may be an idiot, but at least he's not useless, like your little fledgling."

Luciela growled, and began to walk forward, when suddenly the earth in front of both Abyssal One's exploded. They both stopped, and everyone turned to face Noah.

The green haired boy's head was bowed as his tendrils shrank and morphed back into normal human hands. He raised his head and glared at the assembled Awakened beings, "Enough! Arguing like this will only ruin everything. We don't need to like each other, but we need to be able to cooperate at the very least. You can return to your little territory wars after Isley has been dealt with!"

He glared at both of them, and Riful reluctantly nodded, moving back to stand by a now healed Dauf. However, Luciela glared back, "Watch yourself, boy! I'm not some lowly minion you can push around." She turned to leave, still outraged by Riful's barbs.

However, there was a faint blur as Noah appeared in front of her and grabbed her arm. His tendril's lashed out and restrained Rafaela from moving or attempting to attack, wrapping around her arms and legs.

"I wouldn't need to reprimand either of you, if you two would just remain civil at the very least. But apparently that's too much to ask for." He said sharply. glancing at Riful as well to make his point.

She gave him a long measuring look, before pulling her arm free with a strength that surprised Noah. He retracted his tendrils and moved away.

She sighed haughtily, "Very well, I will refrain from arguing with the runt, at least until Isley is dead. But I want that little girl and her brutish minion to stay away from me and my sister. And don't think I've forgotten." She glowered at him, "You and I will be having words."

Riful opened her mouth to retort, when Noah silenced her with a venomous glare. She gave a sigh and settled for glaring petulantly at the other female Abyssal One.

Noah sighed, "Now, we just need the last player in the game." He glanced over his shoulder.

"Clare."

The mentioned Claymore stiffened momentarily before walking forwards to stand next to Noah. Flora and Undine both looked at Miria for guidance, a little unsettled that the lowest ranked warrior had been chosen over the highest. But Miria shook her head, already have suspected that Clare had something else to contribute, something that she herself lacked.

The lines were clearly drawn, Luciela and Rafaela standing close together opposite Noah and Clare, with Riful, and Dauf slouching behind her, standing off to the side. The rest of the Claymore's were standing behind the male Abyssal One, some with swords drawn.

Noah glanced between the other two Abyssal One's, and sighed. "We're not enemies here, so stop acting as if we're all here to kill each other."

Reluctantly, Riful and Luciela seemingly relaxed, while Rafaela stayed tense and wary. Noah just Clare a measuring look before he ploughed on ahead. "I know that there isn't a lot of trust in this group, but we need to move past that if we're going to succeed." Seeing grudging agreement, he continued. "Clare, what do you know about the One Horned Woman?"

She stiffened, reluctant to share anything. In her mind, this was her mission, something she had to go on alone . . . . but with the Abyssal One's help, it became much more a much more realistic goal. After a few moments, Luciela grew bored of waiting, "Hurry up, girl! We don't have all the time in the world."

Noah glared at her, and turned to Clare, "Clare, I don't know how personal this is to you, but we need all the information you have on Priscilla. Anything you know may help us."

Clare closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, pushing her emotions down, suppressing them, "Priscilla was the Number Two warrior in a party containing Numbers Two through Five, sent to kill the Number One warrior, Teresa of the Faint Smile."

No one made a sound as Clare bowed her head, "Priscilla was defeated along with the others, but attacked Teresa again, and after faking surrender, killed Teresa. She Awakened, and killed Numbers Four and Five, and seemingly killing Number Three, Irene."

Noah glanced at her, "Teresa of the Faint Smile?"

Riful gave a shaky laugh, "Supposedly the the strongest Claymore to have ever lived, Teresa was nick named that because she supposedly never released her yoki, and she always wore a faint smile while slaying yoma. If Priscilla killed her before even Awakening . . . . . . ."

Clare whipped her head up, eyes slitted and gleaming gold, "Priscilla would have never beaten Teresa in a fair fight! She cheated!"

Riful put her hands up, "Be that as it may, she still won, and to have killed a Number One warrior is no small feat, you know."

Noah frowned, and narrowed his eyes in thought, "Clare . . . . . . how exactly did you become a Claymore?"

The short haired warrior lowered her head for a second, "I had the Organisation implant Teresa's flesh and blood inside me."

Noah blinked, stunned, unable to think of anything to say. Luciela laughed at the speechless boy "You're far too naïve, little boy. The Organisation is willing to do anything to create more powerful warriors. A chance to recreate the most powerful warrior to have ever lived is something that they would have seized eagerly." She gave Clare a disdainful look. "An experiment that obviously failed."

Clare tensed, and clenched her hands, but even she recognised that she would most likely lose in a fight against Rafaela, who would leap to her sisters defence at the first sign of a threat.

Noah nodded uncertainly accepting the point that the weakened Abyssal One was making before turning to Clare, "If you plan on being there, then you need to train harder than you ever have before. You're going to have to reach entirely new levels, stretch your abilities to their fullest."

He blurred closer to her, and caught her chin in his grasp, looking straight into her eyes, "You'll need to be prepared to sacrifice everything for this, perhaps even your humanity." He ignored the sounds of protest from the gathered Claymores. "Are you willing to do this? To avenge Teresa?"

Clare stayed silent for a second, before she gazed back at Noah, determination shining in her eyes.

"Whatever it takes."

The male Abyssal One smiled, "Good." He walked around her assessing her, "You're going to need that determination if you want to gain even a fraction of Priscilla's strength."

Riful sidled closer, "Maybe I can help, I'm sure I can have her ready to fight on a much higher level in a few days-"

Noah didn't even look at her, "Back off, Riful. Clare doesn't need your 'help'."

Riful huffed petulantly, "Fine, you know how to find me." There was a massive burst of yoki, and the Abyssal One and Dauf were gone.

Luciela glared at the sky for a second, resisting the urge to sneer at the long gone, childish Abyssal One. She looked down and stared at the gathered Claymores. "And what of the weaklings?" She nodded towards them, linking her fingers with her sister again.

Noah blinked in surprise and turned towards the warriors, "What of them?"

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "What are you going to do with them? None of them will be even remotely useful against Isley or his woman."

Before he could reply, Jean stepped forwards, sheathing her sword as she did so. "I will be coming with you." Clare opened her mouth to protest, but the Number Nine ranked warriors glare silenced her.

Luciela sighed loudly, but didn't say anything. If any the weak little warriors wanted to come along and get slaughtered, it wasn't her problem. As long as they stayed out of her way, then Noah could deal with them.

There was a tense silence as Miria and the other Claymore's looked at Clare and Jean, some disbelievingly, while the Number Six and the other partially Awakened warriors gave her looks of reluctant understanding.

Miria looked around her, "Anyone else wish to follow them?"

Instantly there was several refusals, and Miria looked back over to Clare and Jean,, "Are you sure this is what you want? There are other ways . . . ." Everyone could hear the slight doubt in her words, but Clare smiled slightly and drew her sword.

"No, I have to do this. But we will meet again some day." It was a promise that would most likely be broken, with both the Organisation, Isley and Priscilla out there, but it was reassuring none the less.

Helen and Deneve stepped forwards, holding their swords in the air in front of them. The four of them joined the tips of their swords together, silently promising to do whatever they could to survive, and meet again.

A few moments passed before they sheathed their swords, and stepped apart, with Clare moving back over to Jean and the Awakened beings, and Miria, Helen and Deneve moving back to the group of warriors.

Undine opened her mouth, rage flashing across her face, but Miria cut her off. "Undine! We're leaving."

She turned and started to lead the group away, ignoring the growl the Number Eleven ranked warrior made as she walked past the muscled warrior. Undine threw one last glare at the Awakened beings before turning to follow after the group.

Clare and Deneve watched as they moved away, walking along the twisted paths through the mountains. They turned to face the three Awakened beings once the other Claymore's had moved out of sight.

Clare raised an eyebrow slightly, "What now?"

Noah turned and smiled lightly, "We're going to move further West, deeper into Riful's territory and beyond the reach of the Organisation while we wait for Luciela to recover, and for you two and Rafaela to become an asset instead of liabilities."

Rafaela bristled slightly, but Luciela calmed her with a look. It was true, although much more so for the weak little warriors rather than her sister. She gave Noah a warning look, and he gave her a grudging look of acceptance. He turned and began to walk out of the clearing, although heading another way to where the Claymore's had gone.

"It's time for some training."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

There, done, enjoy :)

Please review, tell me what you think or if I need to rewrite it.

Phoenix


	14. The Lioness

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN

AN: Sorry, I had no idea that it had been so long since I last updated. I've had to deal with some crap, but it's no excuse for being so late. I'm sorry.

Orchamus: Mmm, that's what I was thinking while I wrote this chapter. Noah will most likely never be paired, and if I do make any other pairings, then it will be a small part of the story. Thanks though :)

Melchor: Oh hi there :) Mmm, I'm trying to think of how I want it to go, and how much detail I want to put into the cannon time skip period. I'm gonna leave them own their own for a bit, and maybe we'll see more of them later :P Yeah, at the moment it's fairly easy going, because Luciela is still recovering, so Noah holds all the power. But when she's back up to full strength . . . . . . . it should get a little bit more interesting :) The fight scene for when that eventually happens is going to be so hard to write :( Thanks for reviewing though :)

storyreaderlovespie: Ahahaha, thanks :) It's alright :) I'm glad you enjoyed it

marc: Thanks for that :) I didn't notice how poorly written that bit was until I went back and looked at it again. I really appreciate it though, because I'm always happy to go back and change things, especially when it's badly done :) Thanks a bunch :)

kyuubicannon: Thank you for pointing that out :) I'm not sure yet, would you want there to be time skips? Or do you want me to go through the whole time period? It won't be seven years, as less people and more experienced teachers in this AU.

Sieben Nightwing: Thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked it :) Uhhh, sorry, but apart from the fact that I don't have any plans on adding any other important OC's, I have no idea how I would work something like that into the story, sorry.

algebraiya: Thanks for reviewing :)

DBZLOVER: I'm glad you liked it, hopefully you enjoy this one too :)

Freehawk: No, not really. Riful shrugs stuff like that off pretty easily. She was a little bit annoyed, but she's too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . childish to stay that way. She plays a child because it suits her, and children don't really stay annoyed for long. Plus, she doesn't take no for an answer, so expect her to come back :)

Kuroui: I'm sorry it took so long to update :P But here's the new chapter, and thanks for reviewing :)

EVA-Saiyajin: Your review actually made my day :) No kidding :) I'm always worried that I'm not portraying characters right, and that Noah is totally stuffing everything up and ruining the story, so your review made me feel so much better :) Thank you

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_The Lioness is hunting us_

_So beautiful and dangerous_

_Her embrace is murderous_

_Beware of the Lioness_

_Do you feel her gentle touch_

_Her sweet caress hurts just as much_

_So take care, take care of her_

_The Lioness will win_

_So close you hear her purring_

_So close she smells your fear_

_Not close enough to lose yourself_

_Beware the Lioness is near_

_~The Lioness, Xandria_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

They headed further West for several days before finally Claire and Jean needed a rest. As hardy as they were, even their inhuman endurance could be exhausted eventually. With the fight in the North and their escape to the West, they really hadn't had the time to rest and recover their strength.

Luciela watched as the two Claymores settled down onto the ground, sitting against their swords. She gave Rafaela a look, and proceeded to drag Noah away, where they could have a private conversation. The former Number Two would ensure that the two silver haired women stayed where they were.

Noah gave no sign of distress as he was pulled away from the cave by his wrist, giving Luciela an amused look.

Deciding that they were far enough, she let go of his wrist and spun around, levelling him with a serious look, "I think it's time for that talk."

Noah nodded, "So talk."

She sneered at him for a second, "I'm not some double-digited Awakened being that you can order around-"

Noah cut her off with a wave of his hand, "I don't plan on it." He levelled her with a hard stare, "What I do expect at the very least is some cooperation."

She gave him a grudging nod, "Fine." She paused for a second, choosing her next question carefully. There were a number of things she was curious about, motives for one thing, but first . . . . . .

"How did you manage to conceal your existence for so long?"

Noah shrugged, "I Awakened during the Mass Awakening, and it went unnoticed amongst the constant fighting. I killed and fed on the Awakened beings that I was battling at the time, and fled, going into hiding within the lands to the West. I stayed away from humans, hunted other Awakened beings and Yoma for food, slept and trained."

Luciela stared at him, "You ate your own kind?"

Noah smiled patronisingly at her, "Please Luciela, Yoma are disgusting little creatures that are useful for little else. And the Awakened beings?" He shrugged again, "Survival of the fittest. It was either them or humans, and Awakened beings give a better fight."

Luciela gave a short laugh, "Pathetic." She began to circle him, "Clinging to your last little shreds of humanity like a delusional fool."

He looked over his shoulder at her, "Think whatever you like, Luciela. I've managed to stay under the radar of the Organisation and the rest of the world this long, haven't I?'

She conceded the point with a nod, grudgingly, "True, but human guts . . . . . the sweetness, just the tiniest taste is like nirvana." A hazy pleasured look filled her eyes before fading, replaced by a more serious look, "I hope you don't expect me to follow your example." There was a faint threat in her voice, but Noah just frowned at her.

"What sort of preacher do you take me for? I could care less what you do with your food. I don't expect anyone else to follow in my example."

She gave him a suspicious look, but let it pass. "Just stay away from Rafaela, and there won't be a problem." Noah grinned and shook his head.

She glared at him, "Why attack us and kidnap Rafaela and I?"

Noah raised an eyebrow, "And you would have just cooperated if I had simply asked?"

Luciela bristled, but couldn't really argue the point. She probably just would have attacked, or failing that, taken Rafaela and run.

He sighed, "Anything else? We should probably get back to the others." It was unlikely that anything had happened, all three girls were anti-social in their own ways, and it was impossible for a fight to have broken out unnoticed by either of the Abyssal Ones.

Luciela nodded, "I should probably take Rafaela hunting, before she eats your little pets, no?" She grinned as Noah grimaced, and they disappeared from the clearing in a blur.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

The female Abyssal One frowned as she reached the 'campsite'. She had slight ulterior motives to taking Rafaela hunting, although she didn't know if the boy had realised it or not.

Despite her remarkable recovery since her humiliating defeat at Isley's hands, she was in no way back to her full strength. She needed to feed, and quite heavily at that. She tilted her head at Noah, wondering if he was going to go back on his word, and try to stop her from massacring a town or two.

He gave her a dry, unimpressed look, and jerked his head, obviously telling her to leave. She gave him a slow smile in return, linked hands with Rafaela and disappeared into the woods. She could hear the two warriors asking Noah questions as she passed out of hearing range, and she allowed a smug smile to cross her face, wondering how he would talk his way out of that

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Claire glared at the male Abyssal One, "You're just going to let them feed on innocent humans?"

Noah turned to face her, "What would you have me do?" He started walking towards her slowly, but the warrior stood her ground, while Jean tensed, ready for a fight. "We need Luciela, just like we need Riful, and neither of them are interested in keeping the same diet as me. I have no desire to attempt to convince them otherwise, and besides, we can't afford to alienate them." He appeared directly in front of her, leaning into her personal space as she flinched and narrowed her eyes.

He stepped back, and glanced at Jean, who had taken her hand away from her sword slowly. "Don't get me wrong, I have no interest in eating humans, for several reasons, but I'm not some soft hearted weakling. I don't care about many other beings, let alone humans." Jean and Claire shared a look.

Noah tilted his head as he considered his words, "But . . . . . . I find myself respecting you two. I actually care about your safety, and for whatever reason, I find myself wanting to protect you." He blurred out of sight, a rustle of leaves being the only sign that he'd left the clearing, with several faint words called over his shoulder.

"Don't screw that up."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Noah shook his head as he sprinted from the 'campsite'. He'd said too much to the two Claymore's. A confession like that . . . . . . . . . . it was like he really was turning into a soft hearted weakling. On one hand, it would assure them that he didn't intend to kill them at any time, but if Luciela heard of it, she'd be even more dissatisfied with working with him.

No doubt it would inspire her to attempt to assume dominance over him. The white haired boy didn't doubt that she had accepted the truth about needing to cooperate to defeat Isley. Out of the three Abyssal Ones, she was the only one with first hand experience at fighting the oldest of the Abyssal Ones. But like Riful, Luciela wouldn't be satisfied with an alliance, no, she'd want submission.

It was the nature of Awakened beings. Strive to be the one in control, kill everything that resists. Some were able to control the instinct, and kept to themselves, others were killed by more powerful beings that they attempted to dominate, and others submitted to the control of more powerful beings.

Isley was one of the ones that had submitted, along with Rigardo and Dauf. Luciela and Riful were smart enough to eliminate any threats, while Noah him self had kept away from everything and everyone.

He didn't quite regret what he'd said, but . . . . .. . . . he shook his head again, and turned his focus to tracking Luciela and Rafaela. The last thing they needed was to be tracked and killed by the Organisation because one or both of them were lost in blood lust and drew too much attention.

It took him several minutes to catch up with the two, and aside from a small grin from Luciela and a curious look from Rafaela, they seemed intent on ignoring his presence. Noah was content to just follow the sisters as they honed in on a small village, tucked into a valley in the mountains.

Although the four 'factions' had claimed territories for themselves, there were almost no towns in these areas. The majority of the population lived in the centre of the continent, where the 47 Claymore areas were designated. Outside of the protected centre, everyone was fair game. Only the foolhardy or the criminal established anything permanent this far out.

They came to a stop on the edge of a cliff, far above the small village. Noah estimated that there were around six hundred humans in the village, satiate the sisters hunger.

Luciela grinned, a vicious expression that bared her teeth, sharper than the average humans. Rafaela was beginning to shake, the scent of her natural prey awakening her suppressed blood lust.

This time, the Abyssal One did nothing to calm her sister, gently nudging the younger Awakened being into shifting into her Awakened form. Rafaela snarled, and leapt from the cliff, soaring through the air before gravity took effect and began to drag her back towards the ground.

As she plummeted, the red-haired girl began to shift, skin bubbling as the bones and muscles began to morph and change. Her form expanded, growing much larger than any normal human as her skin hardened and lost all colour, except for the occasional blood red streaks.

The Awakened being landed with animal grace, making a muffled thump. Although her yoki had spiked when she shifted, it quickly settled, and Noah was surprised to note that she, almost perfectly, suppressed it. Rafaela must have had years of practice as a Claymore to be able to mask her energy so naturally.

Next over the cliff was Luciela, who simply stepped off and let gravity take her. Her change was almost seamless, quickly expanding to a form a fraction larger than her sister's. Luciela's Awakened form was reminiscent of a cat-woman, a human body with cat hind legs and two long prehensile tails. The head of her form was that of a cat with two mouths, one set above above the other. Her eyes glowed brilliant orange as she descended, landing with feline grace and making even less noise than her sister had.

Noah sighed, and quickly ran to the cliff and dived off, tumbling through the air to land on his feet behind the two Awakened beings. He watched as they examined one another, properly seeing each other's forms for the first time. He tensed for a second, wondering if Rafaela would attempt to pick a fight, and try to gain dominance over Luciela.

With the Abyssal One so weakened, Rafaela even had a chance to win, and the primal instincts inherent to all newly Awakened beings had to be screaming through her mind, calling for blood and the submission of every other Awakened being in the area. It took time for those instincts to subside, usually after the Awakened being had gone on it's first hunt, and satiated the ravenous hunger that accompanied their new form. It was unlikely that Rafaela would pay attention to him just yet, with his yoki suppressed and his scent much less noticeable than the female Abyssal One's, who was the prominent threat.

Thankfully, Rafaela seemed to have remembered her sister, and instead of attacking like any other newly Awakened being, she crept closer, and gently touched her sister's face. Gentle humming sounds came from the bone white being as she slowly examined the female Abyssal One. Luciela remained still, watching as the slightly smaller Awakened being satisfied her curiosity.

Eventually, Rafaela sat back on her heels, and tilted her head to the side, "Luciela . . . . ."

The Cat-like Abyssal One leaned forwards and nuzzled her sister, and Noah averted his eyes, feeling oddly intrusive. He frowned as he heard the sound of several humans stomping heavily towards them. He turned back to the sisters in time to see them blur out of sight.

The white haired boy sighed, and resigned himself to playing catch up. He blurred out of sight as he followed the two.

He found them outside a grove of trees, and came to a stop on a high tree branch. Luciela was standing back and watching hungrily as Rafaela tore through the humans that had come to investigate the falling objects that had been seen from the village.

Noah looked on in curiosity as the armoured Awakened being fired several bone spears from her fore arms, pinning humans to rocks and boulders, leaving them screaming as the jagged missiles tore through muscle and bone.

In several short and bloody seconds, the humans were dead, and Rafaela began to feed, tearing corpses up in order to reach the sweet guts inside. She beckoned Luciela over, and the two ate together, although the older sister made far less of a mess, simply cutting open the humans and delicately extracting their insides.

The only human form Awakened being present sat back, and simply breathed in the sweet smell of blood and guts that filled the air. He might have forced himself to not eat humans, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't take the chance to enjoy the smell of blood and death.

Sometimes he regretted having chosen his current diet, but it had kept him alive and under the radar of the Organisation, and that was good enough to justify his choices.

Eventually, both of the Awakened beings had finished feeding, and were ready to move on and find more. Noah followed them as they sprinted off towards the town, watching as Rafaela hesitated occasionally, conflicted as to whether she should lead, drawn by ravenous hunger, or follow Luciela, deferring to her sister's power.

However, each time Luciela nudged her on, and after several times, Rafaela just gave up, and raced on ahead, with her sister close behind.

They tore through the town's walls, and began to slaughter the humans inside, feeding as they went. Humans poured out of their homes, some to escape, and some trying to kill the monsters that had attacked their home.

Noah settled on a roof top and watched as spears, swords and arrows all bounced off Rafaela's armour, and Luciela's tails ripped any attackers apart. He watched with interest as mouths filled with jagged teeth opened up across her skin, and began to ingest steaming piles of guts that had been torn out of the human defenders.

A torch must have fallen and hit barrels of oil, as an explosion shattered several homes, and fire quickly began to spread throughout the streets. Noah sighed in irritation as the village began to burn.

"At least some of the evidence of the sisters will be erased." He quickly leapt to his feet and escaped the town as fire began to consume the ruined buildings. As he fled he could hear the triumphant roars of the sisters as they fed.

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Jean watched as Claire settled back onto the ground with a huff, the bob-haired girl glaring off to where Noah had gone.

"We made the right choice."

Claire blinked as she turned her head to look at Jean, "Did we? Luciela and Rafaela have gone off to eat who knows how many people, and we're just going to sit here and let it happen."

Jean lowered herself to the ground slowly, "I don't like this any more than you, but . . . . . . . . this would be happening regardless if we were here or not. Noah will protect us as long as we don't cause trouble, and with enough training, maybe one day, after Isley is dead, we can hunt down Luciela and Rafaela as well." She sounded unhappy, but resigned at the same time.

Claire sighed, trying to let Jean's reasoning convince her. Perhaps the short haired warrior was right . . . . . . . . . .

She nodded at Jean. This might not be what she wanted, but she had long ago sworn that she would avenge Teresa, no matter what the cost.

Even if she had to give up her humanity along the way.

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Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed :) please point out any faults and I'll go back and fix it :)

Phoenix


	15. Hardest of Hearts

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CLAYMORE

AN: I'm sorry that this took so long to get out, but I've only just gotten my inspiration for this story back. Plus I've been reading the Claymore manga again, and holy crap, I didn't know I was so out of date! Especially with the very latest stuff, although it's given me some amazing ideas.

IMPORTANT! Due to the fact that I'm not doing a time skip, I'm having to introduce post-timeskip characters now. From my point of view, they would had to be promoted quite quickly to fill in the gaps anyway, because the Organisation lost over half it's warriors, more if you include the four man team that was first lost in the North, and they would have been fairly well adjusted to their ranks, because the Organisation couldn't have lost the numbers they had and still survived without capable replacements. But because of this, some things will change, and that's more of my deviation from canon. Sorry if this offends anyone's sensibilities or ruins the story for them, but that's how it's working for me

Kuroui: Yays, I'm glad you think so :) True, but I think feeding would help Awakened beings recover, plus Rafaela needs to get out there and eat, so it was bound to happen :) I didn't go into too much detail though :) thanks for reviewing :)

Orchamus: I'm sorry about that, I didn't know it had changed font :/ I'm glad you liked it :) Thanks for reviewing :)

marc: Thanks, that means a lot :) All fixed, hopefully :) and thanks for reviewing

kyuubicannon:I took your advice, except to avoid a lot of boring training scenes, I'm going to be accelerating a lot of the canon events to keep things interesting. Please let me know if you think it's stupid? And thanks for reviewing :)

algebraiya: all fixed, I think :) Hmm, a good question. Rafaela is naturally a quiet person, not shy though, and before the massacre, she was being kept a little bit out of it by Luciela, to prevent a rampage, so she'll start to come out of her shell a little bit, especially in a scene I have planned for later :)

storyreaderlovespie: I thought it was needed :) plus it opens up possibilities for later :) Yays :) that's great. They noticed, but Noah isn't defined as a threat, being in human form and not making any violent actions, or movements towards their food. So they knew he was there, but dismissed him as unimportant. Thanks for reviewing

Sieben Nightwing: Thank you :) Ummm, no, I didn't have anything like that planned, I've already got the next few bits planned, but thanks anyway :)

EVA-Saiyajin: Thank you :) those have been fixed hopefully, but I'm glad you liked it :)

I: I love the series, mostly because of how amazing the battles are :) I'm glad you like it though :) I started this story without any pairings in mind, and I still haven't really changed my mind. I don't think the other reviewers would appreciate this becoming a slash story, plus who would I even pair Noah with? No, I'll keep this the way it is, unless you can come up with a good argument to convince me otherwise :) And thank you, that's a great compliment :)

YoPQ: True, I did say I would deviate from canon, but after the time skip, and that's where I'm starting to change things up now. Mostly just accelerating events, but it's a start :) I didn't want to get dragged down into details pretty much, plus there wasn't really that much to tell :) A normal village wouldn't have anything to help defend against Awakened beings. But thank you anyway :)

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_There is love in our bodies and it holds us together_

_But pulls us apart when we're holding each other_

_We all want something to hold in the night_

_We don't care if it hurts or we're holding too tight_

_There is love in your body but you can't get it out_

_It gets stuck in your head, won't come out of your mouth_

_Sticks to your tongue and it shows on your face_

_That the sweetest of words have the bitterest taste_

_Darling heart, I loved you from the start_

_But you'll never know what a fool I've been_

_Darling heart, I loved you from the start_

_But that's no excuse for the state I'm in_

_~Hardest of Hearts, Florence + The Machine_

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"All done?"

Rafaela whirled around to face the amused Abyssal One, but Luciela just smirked over her shoulder as she paused in her bathing. The feeding frenzy had replenished much of her strength, more than she had expected it too in all honesty. The red-haired girl expected to be fully recovered in days rather then weeks now.

She stood up and left the stream, standing in the sun to let her hair and skin dry. Noah handed over a pair of dresses that he's managed to steal before the village burned down. They were the low quality that could be expected from a small isolated community, and she frowned, comparing them to the luxurious clothes she'd worn since her Awakening.

"Eager to hurry back to your little pets then?" She asked, arching an eye brow. Behind her, Rafaela picked up her own dress, and put it on after a quick examination.

Noah gave her an exasperated look and nodded, not even bothering to argue with her. He disappeared in a quick burst of yoki, while the female Abyssal One was pleased that she was able to follow his movements for the most part. That feeding had done her a world of good, and slaughtering humans was a form of stress release to her, albeit one that she didn't indulge in very often.

Too many towns filled with corpses, and the Organisation was liable to send a hunting group of the stronger single-digit warriors after her. She hadn't yet experienced that, and she wasn't eager to test herself against a group of skilled and powerful warriors, weakened as she was.

She slipped the dress on and tore the long sleeves off, freeing up her hands. The dress was too large, and was almost slipping off her slim frame. Her sister was having the same problem, being the same body shape as hers, although maybe a little more generous in her chest.

Giving up on improving the pitiful excuse for clothing, Luciela turned to face Rafaela, basking in the feel of her sister's yoki. It was similar to before her Awakening, except with that inhuman, bestial feel that tainted every Awakened beings.

Feeling it wash over her was relaxing, and brought back memories of easier days, when they were both in training. There was a pang in her heart, which she pushed away easily with decades of practice. Awakening had crushed most of those memories and regrets, although she still felt devastated over the separation of Rafaela and her.

"How are you feeling?" The Abyssal One asked, shaking away her thoughts.

"I feel . . . . . stronger." Rafaela's voice was rough from disuse, but it had always been huskier than Luciela's in any case. "Like I could break a mountain apart with my bare hands."

Luciela smiled proudly, unable to contain herself. Being with her sister again, it was like . . . . . . . her soul had been torn in half, and reunited.

She caught Rafaela's eye, and felt a wave of love flow through the bond they shared. They both knew that they'd rather die than be separated again.

Luciela shifted on her feet, feeling her yoki flow through her limbs once more, "Come on, we'll go see what Noah and his pets are doing."

Their yoki surged in unison as the two Awakened beings sped from the river banks, heading in the direction that Noah's yoki had disappeared.

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Clare and Jean leapt to their feet, hearing a rustling noise, moving from tree to tree. Their eyes met, and Jean nodded. The Number Nine ranked warrior disappeared from the clearing, landing on a nearby tree branch, sword drawn.

Back on the ground, Clare had drawn her on sword, and she extended her yoki, searching for any hostile yoma. Her grip on her sword tightened when she found no trace of hostile yoki, and she started sweeping the forest with her eyes, straining her ears. Jean appeared behind her, blade held out in both hands, covering Clare's back. The older woman's yoki surged as her eyes flared gold, and the pupil contracted into a slit, improving her eyesight immediately.

The seconds rolled past, and still unable to detect anyone, Clare and Jean only became more anxious, certain that there was something out there.

"Well, you two aren't a complete waste of time then." The familiar voice of the green haired Abyssal One came from a tree branch to Clare's right, and Jean's left.

With a tiny jolt, Jean managed to stop herself from rushing Noah, using self control gained through years of battle experience hunting Awakened beings.

Clare on the other hand, wasn't quite so restrained, and in an impressive demonstration of her inhumanly enhanced reaction speed, spun to face the green haired boy, and threw her sword.

The sword, tempered and forged using technique's known only to the Organisation, flew through the air at an incredible speed, heading directly for the Abyssal One's head. He just smirked, and leant to the side ever so slightly, allowing the claymore to rush past, without ever touching so much as a strand of hair. The blade buried itself deep into the tree, cutting through the wood almost effortlessly.

It may have even burrowed up to the hilt, if Noah had not seized the handle and prevented the improvised missile from moving any further. Clare stared at the Abyssal One with widened eyes, her 'borrowed' right arm still extended in the air, while behind her, Jean opened her mouth, unsure of what she would say, but wanting to break the silence anyway.

Noah beat her too it, throwing back his head and letting out a loud bark of laughter, startling the two warriors with this out of character behaviour.

Shaking his head, Noah gave them his customary smirk, "I knew there was a reason I liked you, Number Forty Seven." He effortlessly pulled her sword from the tree, and dropped down to the ground.

The green haired boy gave the sword a considering look, and a few experimental swings. Just holding the thing was bringing back a few memories from before his Awakening. He grinned and tossed it back to Clare, who caught it despite still recovering from her shock.

Jean sheathed her sword, gave another quick glance around the area, "Did Luciela and Rafaela follow you?" Clare stood with her sword held loosely in her hand, still half expecting someone else to suddenly appear in the clearing.

Noah casually gestured somewhere off behind him, "They'll be along shortly, I can feel Luciela's yoki moving towards us. Rafaela though . . . . . she's suppressing her yoki almost perfectly." He sounded admiring for a second, "For a newly Awakened being, it's a remarkable ability."

The boy turned serious, "And that brings me back to the main reason I came back before the others. For the safety of our group, you two are going to have to learn how to completely suppress your yoki, to the point where you seem like any normal human."

Jean stared at him in mild surprise, while Clare opened her mouth to speak, "Why not just use the yoki suppressant pills?"

Noah looked at her in confusion, "The what?"

The two warriors shared a look, just how old was Noah? The yoki suppressant pills had been in use since shortly after the Organisation was created. The male Abyssal One saw the look, "I was part of the 'second generation'. Not that 'generations' lasted very long back then" He explained with a sardonic grin, but that slipped away when he saw the blank looks the short haired girls were giving him.

"What are you talking about?" Jean asked.

Noah shook his head, did they even try to teach the warriors of today about the past? "When the first warriors were created, the process was unstable, and a lot of them died during the process. Finally, it was refined enough to ensure that every subject survived, and the Organisation was able to field all forty seven warriors, enough to patrol every region on the continent."

Jean watching listening carefully, enthralled by the history of warriors known as Claymores to the ordinary people. She'd heard stories of warriors, powerful fighters, but never more than several generations back. Clare just watched, eyes narrowed in concentration.

He continued, "As you know, in the very beginning, the Organisation used male warriors, but this was problematic because of how quickly we Awakened. It was chaotic, and the ranks changed weekly because of deaths, Awakenings, and sometimes even desertion. The first few generations were given the nickname, 'The Mass Awakening' because 80% of the warriors Awakened within a very short time."

Clare tilted her head slightly, "And this is when you Awakened?"

The green haired boy nodded, "Yes. Isley, Rigardo and Dauf all Awakened at the same time in a group Awakened being hunt, and the ranks were reshuffled. Even though the Organisation was becoming accustomed to losing warriors through Awakening, losing the top three ranked warriors in a single day caused all sorts of chaos. I was promoted to Number One."

Clare tried to imagine what it must have been like, to change rank so easily and so often. She'd only ever been Number Forty Seven, and for the time that she'd known her, Teresa had been ranked Number One. Elena had been promoted twice, when higher ranked warriors died, but they were only small promotions, pushing her up two or three ranks at the most.

Jean herself had only experienced a handful of promotions, especially once she had perfected her Drill Technique, but she had established herself as Number Nine, and stayed there ever since.

Noah shrugged, and went to talk again, disturbing them from their pondering. "I deserved the rank, there was no question about that, but in skill only. I didn't have the experience necessary to be ranked Number One back then, and the few times I had to lead a team, there were always problems. The most common one was that I was younger than the vast majority of warriors, and a lot of them were too proud to be lead around by a younger, less experienced warrior."

He grinned sharply, "I . . . . . . showed them the error of their ways." His grin shrank into his customary smirk, and his gaze slid over to a nearby tree, "Were you enjoying my story, ladies?"

Jean and Clare whirled around too see Luciela and Rafaela, the Abyssal One resting comfortably in the tree branches, while her sister leant against the tree trunk below. The former Number Two gave a nod to Noah, while Luciela gave a slow smirk. He'd been able to sense their less than perfect suppressing, but they were better than could be expected, given Rafaela's recent Awakening, and Luciela's somewhat weakened condition.

"It was . . . . . . . enlightening, although I don't think now is the time for a history lesson." She fell from the tree, landing on her feet without so much as a wince, and stretched, befitting the cat-like being of her Awakened form. "You should be using this time to teach them how to suppress their yoki, if you're so set on it." She looked at the two warriors from beneath her lashes, a vicious smile spreading across her lips. "After all, they'll need all the help they can get." Despite the innocent seeming words, the smug look on her face proved beyond a doubt that her words were anything but benign.

Clare glared coldly at her, but Jean's hand on her arm restrained her from doing anything more. She didn't have the way with words to be able to retaliate, although Galatea came to mind. The short haired warrior smirked as she imagined the Abyssal One and God-Eye Galatea meeting.

It would be . . . . . . . explosive, to say the least.

Noah ignored Luciela's needling, not wanting to get involved. Odds are she'd run rings about him in a game of words, and even if he did have a chance of coming out as the victor, she was right in this case.

"Alright, let's begin then." Noah rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet for a second, considering the two warriors. "This will be hard for you both, mostly because of your yoki-intensive special techniques."

Both Luciela and Rafaela perked up at that, although it was more noticeable in the Abyssal One, given her more outgoing personality. The green haired boy noticed, and waved them off, "Later, it'll just make suppressing harder."

Luciela nodded reluctantly, while Rafaela was more accepting of the dismissal. The older sister wasn't used to being refused anything, and it was grating.

Noah continued on as if there hadn't been an interruption, "But, on the bright side, Jean, your yoki is unusually calm, and controlled. Clare on the other hand, your yoki is quite small, which doesn't seem to hold you back in battle." He grinned slightly, "It will make suppressing it easier though. Now, any questions?"

Clare spoke first, "Is there any special trick to suppressing yoki? I've seen you fight with your yoki completely hidden, and you don't seem to have any troubles."

He nodded, "True, but I've had decades of practice, and that's time we don't have. Learning to suppress your yoki while still being able to fight takes a few years at least, and anyway, we just need you to be able to move around undetected, and I'll take care of combat until you're skilled enough."

They all ignored Luciela's scoff, that sounded suspiciously like, "Bleeding heart."

"So, show me what you can do."

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"Kronus, report."

The scientist gave a quick nod of greeting to the Elder, and led him over to an observation window. "As you can see, Elder, the subjects have taken quickly to the Awakened being flesh that was implanted. Subjects one, fourteen and fifteen died during implantation, but the thirteen survivors are doing well. Their conditioning appears to be holding, although testing in the field will be necessary to validate that."

The Elder nodded slowly, going over the details in his mind, "Have they been exposed to the flesh of an Abyssal One yet?"

Kronus consulted his notes, "No sir. We were waiting for the approval of the High Council first."

"Approval given." Was the crisp reply.

The scientist hesitated for a second, "Sir? Which Abyssal One should they be exposed to?"

The Elder pondered it for a second, "Send them after Luciela. That one should be the weakest after her fight with Isley, and reports indicate that while she lost, she is still alive. Our trackers have been unable to find a lead, although these . . . . subjects should have much less trouble."

The older man turned to leave, although he paused in the door way, "Tell me, Kronus, what happened to the last batch?"

Again, the scientist consulted his papers, "The last batch was designed to hunt down and kill Awakened beings, so that we could harvest their flesh and use it to create the next level, which is what this current batch are on their way to becoming. We were extremely lucky that such a large group of Awakened beings were sent to attack us, they accelerated the project by months, maybe even years. So with no more need for them, the last batch was scrapped."

The Elder nodded in satisfaction, "Excellent work, Kronus, keep it up."

He left, and the scientists was all alone with his creations again. The younger man stared through the window at the apparent young women, thirteen of them strapped to beds in another room. Their eyes and mouths had been sewn over, and most of them were clad in rags and tattered clothes, if clothed at all, although Kronus didn't seem to notice their naked forms.

He'd long since given up such base desires, although knowing that none of these monsters was even remotely human any more, despite their appearance, would have repelled any normal man.

Kronus laid a gloved hand on the window, watching as several of the 'women' twitched at the barely audible sound of the fabric moving against the window.

"I think, my subjects, that you'll change the tide of this war." He chuckled, "After all, even the toughest of giants can be felled by a never-ending stream of ants."

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"Step forward, Clarice."

The brown-haired girl walked forward for a few steps, shaking noticeably. It wasn't every day that a warrior was called before the High Council, let alone a simple trainee.

The Elder sitting in the centre addressed her, "Clarice, as of this day, you shall be promoted to rank Number Forty Seven."

She froze, barely even hearing his words in her surprise. Her, a ranked warrior? Weak, clumsy Clarice? There had to be some sort of mistake! There were dozens of trainees who were faster, stronger, smarter, the list went on. She broke out of her shock in time to hear the Elder continue.

"However, instead of being assigned to an area, you will be given a special assignment."

Clarice kept silent, automatically knowing that she wasn't meant to speak, even though she wouldn't have been able to gather the courage to do so anyway.

The Elder leaned forwards slightly, "The current Number Four Miata, is a . . . . . . special case. Your new assignment is to be her handler. You will keep her focused on the tasks we assign her, ensure that she takes yoki suppressant pills as needed, and eats regularly. You will, for all intents and purposes, become her care taker."

The more he spoke, the more stressed Clarice was becoming, but she managed to restrain herself from panicking, and followed the aide that came to lead her away, presumably to Miata.

It was a short walk through the collection of ruined buildings that made up the surface facilities of the Organisation. The newly promoted warrior idly wondered, not for the first time, what could have possibly caused such devastation this far in the Organisation's territory, and shuddered, hoping that she never encountered it, assuming it was still roaming the world.

Far too quickly for Clarice's liking, they came to a broken down little hut, and the aide quickly left, leaving Clarice alone. Gathering what little courage she had, the warrior walked to the door and pushed it open, shivering at the harsh creaking noise the hinges gave.

The door swung open, revealing a small figure crouched on the floor. Clarice blinked several times to adjust her eyes to the light, and stared at the, also recently promoted, Number Four ranked warrior, 'Blood-Eye' Miata.

Clarice nervously cleared her throat, "Ummm, hello? I'm Number Forty Seven, Clarice. I was ordered to work with you . . . . . ." She trailed off as Miata tilted her head slightly, causing her long hair to move out of her face. A single luminous silver eye was revealed, and Clarice froze as it seemed to gaze right through her.

Suddenly, there was a burning line across her cheek, and something grabbed her shoulder and twisted, sending her tumbling to the ground. The brown haired warrior cried out in pain and shock, although she went silent when Miata's razor sharp sword was held to her throat.

"Did you kill them? Papa and Mama?"

Clarice stared into Miata's single visible eye, scared out of her wits. She'd heard of Miata's instability, everyone had, although she hadn't expected it to be this bad.

Miata sniffed the air, then unexpectedly reached down, and tore the chest area from Clarice's trainee uniform.

The Number Forty Seven ranked warrior cried out again, despite the blade held to her throat. "What are you doing? Stop it, Miata!"

She was ignored, and the much younger Number Four leaned down, and seized Clarice's nipple in her mouth, beginning to suckle immediately.

Again, Clarice was shocked beyond belief, and she stared down at the suddenly docile young girl, trying to block out the feeling of the Number Four ranked warrior trying to breast feed from her. She could hear the Miata murmuring, "Mama." Over and over again, and unconsciously she lowered her hand to rest against the younger girl's head, carding through her tangled blonde hair.

"This little girl is the Organisation's Number Four?" She whispered to herself incredulously. "How on earth is this going to work?"

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The black clad man stood, warily watching the warrior sheath her sword. Something was different about her, as if she had made a new resolution on life. Ermita shrugged the feeling off, dismissing it as unimportant.

"Very well done Number Three. Killing an Awakened being, especially one of such high rank, by one's self is a great achievement."

'God-Eye' Galatea gave the man a cool, unreadable look, then turned to leave.

"Where are you going? We have another assignment."

She stopped, and looked over her shoulder at him, eyes narrowed, "So you can attempt to lead me to my death again? I think not."

He glared at her, "Deserting the Organisation is punishable by death, Number Three. If you leave now, warriors will be sent after you to take your head!"

"Allow them to come, I have a feeling that they'll have hard time managing to find me."

The now former Number Three allowed a ghost of a smile to cross her face, before turning and disappearing from the man's sight.

It took several hours for Ermita to raise the alarm over the desertion of Number Three, 'God-Eye' Galatea, and in response, a hunting party of Numbers Six, Seven, Eight and Nine were dispatched. All were recently promoted to replace warriors lost in the Campaign in the North, but their skills were undeniable.

The ranks had been reshuffled substantially in the time since the campaign, and some of the lower ranks were filled by warriors who were a little underpowered for their ranks. However, the higher ranks, particularly the single digits were expected to perform well enough. Even now a new Number Three was being selected, although it would most likely be Audrey, with her formidable Gentle Sword technique.

The Organisation would suffer for a while, but even now they were preparing new warriors, and new creations, who would bolster it's strength to even higher levels than before the Northern Campaign.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

It had been several days since Galatea had left the Organisation, and already the warriors who had been sent after her were starting to catch up. She'd been able to sense them the entire time, but they must have had a skilled sensor, because they'd been on her tail non-stop.

She could admit to herself, with some difficulty, that she'd been arrogant. The former Number Three had expected to have several days before they sent any capable warriors after her. She'd been careless, and not even bothered to hide her yoki.

It was an obvious mistake now.

Galatea had tried to suppress her yoki, although not to the extent where she couldn't sense her followers any more, and found that they tracked her relentlessly. It was tempting to allow them to catch her, and then incapacitate them, but she'd already paid the price for her arrogance once already, and she didn't plan on repeating her mistake. They were all single digits, from the feel of their yoki, and while none of them could be ranked Number One or Two, as Alicia and Beth were stationed at the Organisation, they could be anywhere from Four to Nine.

A memory suddenly came to mind, a promise given before the Northern Campaign. If it worked, then she might just survive unscathed, or she might just be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. However, Galatea's options were beginning to run thin now, and her gut instinct urged her to go with this one.

Cursing herself for her stupidity, she flared her yoki, stretching her senses across miles and miles, lighting up her location like a bonfire.

As expected, the warriors following her accelerated, most likely assuming she was Awakening, and were hurrying to prevent that. She gritted her teeth and held out for as long as possible, preferring to not imagine what her face looked like as her body twisted and bulged, yoki surging throughout her veins.

Eventually she released it, hoping that her signal had been received, knowing that if not, she'd just wasted energy, time and brought the enemy right to her. She reached for her sword and waited, knowing that the pursuing warriors would reach her in several seconds, and that it would be useless at this point to try and run.

She wasn't disappointed, as the four-warrior team came running towards her, stopping in a loose semi-circle several metres from her. The girl on the far left had darker skin than most warriors, indicating that she came from the far south, further proven by her pale hair being in neat cornrows.

The second warrior was beautiful, Galatea thought, with a small amount of envy. A delicate porcelain face, with long eyelashes, coupled with silver blonde hair, framing her face with straight bangs and a waterfall of curls down to her back.

The two warriors to her right were standing closer together, and the Former Number Three assumed they were lower ranked than the other two. There was one with a ponytail, and a side fringe pulled across her hair line, while the other, shorter one had her long hair contained in two bunches on either side of her head.

Galatea spoke first, "It seems I'm at a disadvantage. All of you know who I am, but I don't know who any of you are." She smiled slightly.

The girl with the pony tail bristled, but the warrior with the curls smiled back, "I'm Number Seven, Anastasia, to my left is Number Six, Renee, to my right is Number Eight, Dietrich, and beside her is Number Nine, Nina." Number Nine scowled, but didn't say anything.

Dietrich spoke up, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword, "Galatea, as punishment for deserting the Organisation, we have been sent to take your head. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Galatea drew her sword, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let myself be taken out by someone of lower rank than me. I'm sure you understand." She gave a patronising, insincere smile, cheering on the inside as it caused all but Number Seven to become angry. The angrier that she could make them, the easier they would be to manipulate, and not realise that she was doing so.

Nina growled, and surged her yoki. Galatea became a little concerned when it focused into her sword arm. The Number Nine dashed forwards, slashing at Galatea's neck.

The Former Number Three was caught by surprise when the sword easily followed her as she twisted out of the way, and she tried to draw her sword in order to deflect it.

She was about to panic, when suddenly Nina's sword stopped moving. The former Number Three looked up, and found her opponent's sword piercing through someone's forearm, pointed directly at her heart.

She followed the forearm, and sighed slightly when she saw that it belonged to a familiar face. "You're late." Galatea said, although with a hint of relief colouring her voice.

Noah smirked, "I'd like to think I'm right on time." He looked at the surprised execution team and then back down at his wrist, with the sword stuck through, "Maybe you could use a hand?"

She could see the mirth dancing through his eyes, and scowled at him, "Idiot."

Nina pulled her sword out and leapt back, while the others drew their swords for the first time. They watched in disbelief as the strange boy's wound healed before their eyes.

Renee recovered her wits, and called out to the boy, "I know you're an Awakened being, but don't interfere, or we'll take your head as well."

Noah grinned at Galatea, motioning for her to move back, "Now now ladies, we don't need to fight. If you'd just let me and my companion go, this could all be solved easily." His demeanour changed, grin becoming darker, and his eyes turning bloodthirsty, " Or I could beat you into unconsciousness, and my companion and I will leave anyway. Your choice."

The execution team shared a glance, and then attacked the Awakened being as one, Dietrich and Nina leading the charge. Noah sighed, not that he'd been expecting anything different.

Although the boy's yoki was tiny, there was more than enough for Nina's Shadow Hunter to lock on, and her blade zeroed in on the Awakened being's neck. Noah ducked Dietrich's swing, launching her away with a well placed kick, when he had to avoid a series of perfectly aimed sword strokes.

He grinned as he spun through the air, avoiding a swipe at his knee caps. He could feel the darker skinned girl trying to manipulate his yoki, and although it was useless, he had to admire her ability. The girl who had zeroed in on to his yoki, now that was a formidable technique. It was relentless, preventing him from getting enough room to manoeuvre. As her speed and strength increased with experience, she'd become quite the warrior.

But for now, she was out of her league.

He dodged to the side, reaching forward and burying his fist in her gut. The girl was sent crashing into a tree, coughing desperately as the air was driven from her lungs.

He stood straight and gazed around. Galatea had engaged the girl with the ability to 'lock' to others yoki. He would have watched, but something else had caught his eye.

The curly haired girl was standing . . . . . in mid-air!

He was caught unawares, and gaped for a second. Anastasia took the chance and dove at him, lashing out with her sword. Noah ducked, but she bounced off the ground, and back into the sky, standing as if she was on the ground alongside him.

He narrowed his eyes, and took a closer look at her feet, focusing yoki into his eyes to improve his vision. He could almost feel his pupils sliding into vertical slits, and he grinned as he saw the warrior's trick.

Noah grinned at her, "Very clever! I don't think I've ever seen such an innovative way of fighting, although admittedly, my experience is more limited than most, but even so, I'm impressed."

Anastasia blinked at the boy, a little confused as to what she could say to that. Suddenly, the boy disappeared, and she jolted and tumbled to the ground, landing on her feet despite the abrupt fall. She heard a soft thump behind her, and spun around to see the boy holding what appeared to be thin air, although she knew his hand was clutching most, it not all of her hair-strands.

He smirked, "Using your own hair as a web to manoeuvre through the air. Unfortunately for you, once the shock wears off, and the secret is revealed, it's a lot less effective."

She paled slightly, knowing that her advantage was gone. The newly promoted Number Seven gripped her sword tighter, she hadn't even seen him move when he tore her net down.

Anastasia lunged forwards, bringing her sword around in a powerful swipe. The boy dodged easily, but he was forced to dive out of the way of Dietrich's massive overhead swing. The Number Eight's attack smashed into the earth where the boy had stood, and the two of them launched a barely coordinated offensive.

Renee added to the chaos as she gave up trying to alter the boys yoki flow, and joined in, trying to time her attacks so as not to interfere with the other's. The three of them knew each other from training, but they'd never attacked a single foe together, let alone a human sized opponent.

Nina, on the other hand, was still after their original target, and was swinging away at Galatea, sword gleaming in a never ending attack. The former Number Three had tried to manipulate the girl's yoki to disrupt her attacks, but she'd found that Nina's yoki was tightly focused, and seemingly sealed against outside interference. She gritted her teeth, and began to focus yoki through her body.

As her strength increased, it became easier to fend off the less experienced warrior, although Nina's sword never stopped. There was a sharp cracking sound, followed by several more, and Galatea glanced over to see the other three girl's lying on the ground. They all had broken arms by the look of it, although it seemed Noah had knocked them all unconscious as well.

She was going to pay for her distraction though, as the Number Nine's sword slipped through her guard, and sped toward her unprotected chest. Galatea swung her sword downwards in a desperate attempt to knock the girl's blade aside, but she didn't expect to fully block the blow.

A hand reached out, and grabbed her hand, preventing her from moving her sword. Nina suffered the same, although in her case, her arms was snapped, and a brutal kick to the head rendered her unconscious in short order.

Noah let the unconscious warrior fall to the ground, seemingly uncaring if she was injured further or not. He released Galatea's hand, and she let it fall to her side, not quite ready to sheathe her sword yet.

He gave a small smile, glancing over her quickly, "Hello Galatea, how lovely to see you again."

The former Number Three gave him a small glare, deciding that she could mostly likely trust him. She sheathed her sword, "Hello Noah. It's been a while."

He smirked, "Had a little disagreement with the Organisation?"

Her eyebrow quirked, "If you could call it that." She breathed in, closing her eyes for a second, "As of several days ago, I am no longer a warrior of the Organisation. My life is now my own." Galatea felt an enormous rush of . . . . . . . peace when she said that. Knowing that she could go anywhere, do anything, and no one could stop her. It was an amazing feeling.

But then reality came flooding back. The Organisation wouldn't rest until she was dead, they didn't tolerate deserters. In fact, several times Galatea had needed to help track down deserters, although it was Number Five that was sent to deal with them, once she had located their general location. And when the execution team reported that she was working with an Awakened being, they'd be even more driven to hunt her down.

Noah spoke, breaking up her train of thought, "So, are you ready to go?"

She blinked, completely confused, "I beg your pardon?"

He stared at her, "Well, aren't you coming with me back to the others?"

Galatea tilted her head, and he continued, "Well, you have three options I suppose. One, you could come back with me and travel with Jean, Clare and I. Two, you could try to track down the other survivors from the North, or three, you could wander the land on your own."

She considered it for a minute, weighing up the options. Travelling with Noah would offer the best level of protection, while she was mostly sure that there would be no clashes of personality with Number Nine or Number Forty Seven. If there really were survivors of the North, it was unlikely that they'd appreciate another, higher ranked warrior in their group. Presumably Number Six would be the leader, assuming she survived, and though she was a more than capable leader, much more skilled than Galatea, or any of the other single digits, Miria would defer to her at first, and that could cause problems within the group. And lastly, with the Organisation hunting for her, it was too dangerous to wander on her own, at least with her yoki unsuppressed.

She eyed Noah for a second, sensing how his yoki was, once again, completely and utterly hidden, even standing next to her powerful sensing abilities. Mind made up, she turned to face him fully, watching how he raised an eyebrow in anticipation of her answer.

She smirked in jest, "Very well, you've convinced me. I'll come with you, but in return, you need to show me how to completely suppress my yoki the way you do." The former Number Three watched him, half expecting him to refuse, and disappear.

Noah gave her a satisfied smile, "I knew you'd see it my way." He turned to walk off, and had only taken a few steps, when he turned around and taunted the slightly shocked warrior, "Are you coming?"

She gave him a dry look, "Lead on." Galatea lowered her voice, "Idiot."

Noah's laughter rang around the clearing as they both disappeared, leaving the battered bodies of the Organisation's execution team behind them.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

And that's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it, I hope there weren't too many errors, and I hope that I didn't kill the story via acceleration :)

Please review and let me know what you thought.

Phoenix


	16. I Am Not A Robot

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN!**

**AN: Sorry for the lateness, I just haven't had any inspiration, for anything. Depression is a lovely bitch to deal with. But, better late than never I suppose.**

Orchamus: Galatea is a smart cookie, and I figure that she'd take advantage. Plus, it said in the manga that she disappeared amongst the chaos from seven years ago, so I thought I could just go with that. Their ignorance can only last for so long n_n

I: When I read this, it made my day, seriously, thank you :) Randomness is my thing :P Hope you enjoy

algebraiya: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for reviewing :)

EVA-Saiyajin: thanks, I'm glad you liked it :) I'm twisting it all, it's not just events that are speeding up. Characters ages change too. Also the Organisation's plans are accelerated too :)

storyreaderlovespie: Yay, thanks :) Hope you enjoy and thanks for reviewing

kyuubicannon: Oh no no, I have a lot of plans :) I'll make sure not to go too fast, but I also have seven years of free time, if I really wanted to use all that filler for my own story. Thanks for reading.

marc: Oh no, don't worry, it's fine. I hope you see this update :) She's just too cool not to have :) I'm pretty sure just including Noah made this story AU :) Thanks :)

nothost: Thanks a bunch, that means a lot to me :D

kyjori: We shall see :)

: Mmmm, nah, I like things the way they are :) but thanks anyways

X-elemental: Why? If I just started from the bit where real changes were made, then no one would understand what's going on. Even if he made no real changes, him being there is a change, and I had to write that so people would understand what was happening. Isley didn't care what happened, he'd already moved on, the Awakened beings were always going to be able to move on once Rigardo intervened. They never expected him to die, but that didn't matter in the end anyway. Riful is being diplomatic, she needs Noah. She's still scheming, but she'll play nice until she has what she wants.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

_You've been acting awful tough lately  
Smoking a lot of cigarettes lately  
But inside, you're just a little baby  
It's okay to say you've got a weak spot  
You don't always have to be on top  
Better to be hated than love, love, loved for what you're not_

_You're vulnerable, you're vulnerable_  
_You are not a robot_  
_You're loveable, so loveable_  
_But you're just troubled_

_Guess what? I'm not a robot, a robot_  
_Guess what? I'm not a robot, a robot_

_~ I Am Not A Robot, Marina And The Diamonds_

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

"You're going kind of slow, do you think you could pick up the pace a little?"

Galatea glared at Noah, about to verbally abuse him, but the look on his face stopped her. He looked unusually serious, and she answered the question, rather than the cutting remarks she had planned. "This is the fastest sustainable pace I can manage, or I'd become fatigued before getting to where ever we're going." He silver eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?"

He grimaced a little, "When I came to find you, I left Clare and Jean with Luciela, and Rafaela."

Galatea gaped at him, "Are you insane, or just stupid?"

Noah's gaze darkened, and he suddenly appeared in front of Galatea, clutching her chin in one pale hand. He looked straight into her eyes, and her breath caught in fear. She could feel his yoki, subtly flowing through his body, and pressing against her own, malicious and oppressive.

He leaned forwards, and his free hand clasped hers, preventing her from drawing her sword. He stayed silent for a second, before smiling slightly, and blowing wind into her face, causing her to blink and recoil. He released her chin, and backed off slightly, causing the sense of fear to diminish, but not vanish, although she did take her hand off of her sword.

"It's been a long time since someone was brave or idiotic enough to talk back to me so disrespectfully." He paused, and appeared to be pondering something.

He looked up at her and smiled again, bigger this time, "It's refreshing." He quietly chuckled at the look on her face, before he disappeared, and she found herself swept off of her feet. The former Number Three barely managed to stop herself from punching the smirking Abyssal One in the head, and she snarled at him.

"What do you think you're doing? Put me down!"

He chuckled, and took off running, reaching incredible speeds. He spoke, and Galatea had to strain to hear it over the rushing wind. "We need to get back quickly, and your top speed isn't going to cut it. So, I'm going to carry you."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off, "Would you prefer that I carry you on my back?"

She glared, being carried like a weak, ordinary human was embarrassing enough, but being carried like a child would be mortifying. She turned her head away, and stayed silent. The silver haired woman could feel Noah's laughter rumbling through his chest, and her glare deepened.

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

There was a heavy awkward silence in the camp. Noah had left over an hour ago, with barely a word, shouting over his shoulder for the two warriors to continue the exercises until he returned, no explanation of where he was going, or when he would come back.

The rudeness still had Luciela seething, occasionally mumbling to herself. Rafaela was leaning against a tree, watching the two Claymore's suppressing their yoki. She pushed off of the tree, and walked closer, unable to stop herself.

"Trying to force it will just cause your yoki to expand. You need to draw it into your core, calmly and slowly."

Clare's eyes slid open as she gazed at the former Number Two, but she heeded the the more experienced being's advice, and took a deep breath. She fell into a light trance, slowly shrinking her yoki, much as she used to do in a battle to be able to predict her opponents movement.

Jean also listened to the advice, although it was less meaningful to her, as she had been doing much the same already. The former Number Nine's iron will was a great asset in this case, allowing her to reign in her yoki with startling proficiency, despite having only just started.

Rafaela watched as the short-haired warrior feel into a trance, eyes drawn to the girl's right arm, and she frowned. She steeped closer, reaching out with her yoki, face going blank as she realised the truth.

Clare's eyes sprang open, and she leaped to her feet as the foreign yoki washed over her. Jean joined her slowly, tense, but unsure what had happened. Rafaela spoke slowly, watching the tense warriors closely, "This arm, it belonged to Quicksword Irene, did it not?"

Clare's eyes caught her own, and the former Number Two was caught off guard by their intensity. The younger woman narrowed her eyes, "And how would you know that?"

Rafaela slowly shifted, unsure of the warriors reaction, "My last mission from the Organisation, was to hunt down and eliminate the deserter, former Number Two, Quicksword Irene-" The red-haired woman was cut off as she leapt backwards, avoiding a flurry of sword blows, which carved through the ground she had been standing on.

Clare continued the attack, eyes flaring brilliant gold, slitted and full of rage. Jean drew her sword to enter the fray, if only to protect Clare, who despite her rage-driven proficiency, was clearly outclassed. But as she moved to her comrade's defence, she was caught, something wrapping around her chest and arms, pinning her in place.

"Now, now, she's got to learn, you don't pick fights with some one far, far beyond your your abilities." Luciela's voice came from behind her, and Jean strained her neck to look at the female Abyssal One.

Jean glared at her, a fierce expression from the normally level headed warrior, "Let me go. I can calm Clare down." Even with all of her bravado, deep inside, she was unsure of her claim. She had no idea why Clare had reacted the way she did, or if she could talk her out of it. The tails wrapped around her began to squeeze, cutting off her air supply.

Luciela smiled and ignored the girl, feeling the warrior beginning to struggle within the grasp of her tail, and watched the fight unfold. Rafaela was staying on the defensive, while the blond-haired girl had yet to land a blow, despite her tremendously fast sword strikes. Secretly, the Abyssal One was hoping that her sister would kill the Claymore.

The two Claymore's were only slowing them down, and without them, they could move against Isley and his woman much sooner. Her fists clenched as she thought of the oldest of the Abyssal Ones, reminded of the humiliating defeat she had faced at his hands.

After he was disposed of, the balance would be re-established, and the three of them would continue their impasse against each other and the Organisation. The natural order would be restored.

A smile crept across her lips and her eyes glimmered as she thought. Unless she could convince him to join her, to ally himself with her against Riful. Then they could end that irritating little girl, and destroy the Organisation. Then it would just be him, and her . . . . . . . . until she destroyed him too.

The idea of being the undisputed ruler, the Queen of the land was almost too much to resist. But she chided herself, knowing that it would take time, and that she had to remain patient.

Too embroiled in the fight to pay attention to her sister's mental state, Rafaela began to move to the offence, feeling her bones and muscles shift under her skin as she transformed into her Awakened state.

"Enough!"

Noah entered the clearing in a blur, swinging the long-haired warrior in his arms to her feet, and then storming towards the fight. Clare was kneeling, clutching a deep gash across her stomach, while Rafaela's body was rippling and growing larger with every second.

The Abyssal One's yoki flooded the clearing, an overwhelmingly malevolent presence, that drew everyone's attention. His eyes began to glimmer, "I leave for barely an hour, and this is what I come back to." His eyes flicked over to Luciela, who was trying to subtly unwind her tail from Jean.

Noah glared fiercely and the female Abyssal One retracted her tail, mind whirling furiously. He spoke slowly, putting emphasis on each word.

"What, exactly, happened here."

Luciela opened her mouth, but closed it again as Noah gave her a scathing look. He instead turned to Jean, and gave her an encouraging nod.

With a cautious look at Luciela, the former Number Nine, elaborated on the entire fracas. "Clare attacked Rafaela after she admitted to taking part in a mission from the Organisation, and then Luciela prevented me from attempting to calm Clare down." She stepped away from the female Abyssal One as she spoke, not willing to remain within striking distance.

Noah turned back to Luciela, aiming a blistering glare at her. He clenched his hands, and willed himself to calm down. Unfortunately, along with the blood lust and the hunger, possessiveness was often a trait that the newly Awakened being inherited upon creation. The four Abyssal Ones were no exception to this general rule.

In fact, they seemed to show greater tendencies of possessiveness than ordinary Awakened beings, as shown by Riful and Dauf, Luciela with Rafaela and Isley's domination over Rigardo.

To Noah, Jean and Clare were his, not friends, and not minions, but his none the less. Admittedly they were still mostly human, but it was starting to dawn on him that he wouldn't disagree to them Awakening. True, they'd need to be . . . . . educated . . . . . in who was in command, but he could do far worse in the search for lieutenants.

Unluckily for the female Abyssal One, she tried to speak again, glaring at Noah with indignation. "You're just going to take her word for it?"

By now, both Clare and Rafaela had calmed down, although in Clare's case, it was due to her injuries bringing back her control, not her necessarily shedding her anger. Jean moved to her side, and helped her limp over to Galatea, where the three exchanged nods of greeting, and began to watching the growing argument.

Rafaela stood behind her sister, staying in her Awakened form, making small nervous movements. She could almost smell the fight brewing, and although she would fight to the death for her sister, the malevolent yoki still surging from the boy put her on edge.

By this time, Noah and Luciela were snarling at each other. The female made the first move, both tails lashing out at the seemingly younger male. He dodged, allowing the prehensile appendages slip past his body as he rushed forwards, hands morphing into claws.

She backed off, trying to stay out of arms reach while she lashed out with her tails. Noah tried to dodge again, but he was too close to have enough room, and was sent flying with a tremendous blow. He disappeared from the sight of the watching warriors, and Luciela was forced to leap out of the way of several thick tendrils tearing through the space she had been in.

Rafaela leaped to her aide, but she was batted aside by another barrage of tendrils. Luciela growled in rage, and with an enormous burst of yoki, transformed into her Awakened form. Dashing over to her sister faster than the blink of an eye, she tore through the tendrils pinning her to the ground, and roared out her defiance.

The two sisters faced off against the still human form Abyssal One, who scowled, "Fine, if this is the way you want to play." Noah knew that they could risk bringing the Organisation down on their heads, but at this point he didn't care. No matter who they sent, he was stealthy enough to escape, and it shouldn't be too much trouble to outrun any pursuers, even if he took the three warriors with him.

Rafaela and Luciela could fend for themselves, if they were still able to do so after he was done with them. It would be tough, but he was reasonably sure that with Luciela's lingering weakness, and Rafaela's inexperience, he would hold the upper hand.

He motioned for the warriors to back away, and gave up holding back his yoki for the first time in decades. Other times he had let it loose, but he had never released it all at once before, except for when he first Awakened.

It was . . . . . . . exhilarating.

He cried out as his human 'shell' cracked and split, feeling energy rush through every part of his body. Everyone assembled watched in awe and fear as a great column of light burst from his shifting form.

His arms twisted and his fingers turned into claws, as a set of thin delicate looking wings burst from his shoulders. Noah's ears lengthened and grew pointed, while his eyes began to glow brilliant green. The Abyssal One's body appeared to be made out of plant material to the observers, plates of bark like material studded across his body, while his hair was spotted with what appeared to be leaves and vines.

Galatea was reminded of the fairy books her mother had read to her when she was a child, though Noah was far more masculine. It was as though someone had taken a pixie, and twisted it into a corrupt and malevolent form, expanding it to human size.

Noah was barely bigger in his Awakened form than he was in his human form, but the amount of yoki pouring off of his body was staggering. His eyes slid open, and he smirked at Luciela.

"Let's dance."

He vanished, moving terrifying fast even to Galatea and Rafaela's sight. The former Number Two was sent flying, crashing through several trees before skidding along the ground. She'd never even seen to blow coming until it was too late.

Luciela was able to dodge, and sent her tails slicing through the air in response to the punch that cratered the ground where she'd been standing. Unfortunately for her, Noah ducked under, and sent his own tendrils against her, attempting to slice through her arms and legs.

Several mouths opened across her body, and seized the few tendrils she couldn't avoid, tearing them apart and chewing them up. She grimaced as the taste as scraps of flesh were devoured. "You taste sickeningly sweet. How revolting!"

Noah appeared behind her and chuckled, fending off strikes from both of her tails. He twisted through the air, and landed a solid kick on her back, sending her spiralling away through the air. He spun again, catching several bone spikes that Rafaela had fired at him, and threw them back her, forcing her to bat them out of the air. This cost her, and Noah flew above her, and smashed her down into the earth with a single punch.

Rafaela felt her skeleton, reinforced by her bone armour, creaking in protest, and rolled out of the way of Noah's follow up punch. She took the advantage to lash out with her claws, raking them down his side.

To her surprise, he merely smirked, and kicked her, sending her skidding across the ground. Noah stood, and looking into Luciela's eyes, watching her surprise as she saw the wounds had already healed, only the splash of blood revealing their short existence at all.

He tilted his head, "Defensive type, remember?"

The female Abyssal One growled, "Time to stop playing around then." She threw back her head and roared, fully releasing her yoki. The ground around her cracked and crumbled, the force of her yoki creating a vivid red explosion of light. She started moving before the light had faded, crashing into Noah.

Luciela pinned his smaller form to the ground, and started to tear into him, cutting through skin and muscle with her talons. She almost tore deep enough to reach bone when something seized her by the throat from behind and smashed her into a nearby tree.

The tendril around her neck dragged her across the ground, and then lifted her into the air and brought her crashing down. It repeated this, forcing her to wildly lash her tails in the hope of cutting through the tendril.

While she had the ability to open mouths across her body, there were some places that she couldn't, such as her neck, face, hands, and her feet. There just wasn't enough room to open a mouth on these places, and that left her a little vulnerable to attacks in these areas.

She rose to her feet, and was joined by Rafaela quickly. The two of them watched in disbelief as Noah's flesh knitted itself together, quicker than anything they'd seen before.

He just smirked at them, "Defensive types almost never get into the high single digits, but I was always good enough at regeneration to make up for any lack of combat skills, and experience easily covered up for the rest. If you want to beat me, you're going to have to try a lot harder than that."

Luciela roared, and sprinted forwards, enraged by the blatant taunting. She'd show this arrogant bastard just how much damage she could cause.

Suddenly, she stopped, skidding to a halt. She glanced down, and saw that part of her hand was missing, torn away. She moved her focus to the human appearing female that was noisily munching on it, and growled in confusion. She quickly lashed a tail out, and split the thing in half at the waist.

She turned her gaze back to Noah, but he was watching the corpse and gaping. She looked back, and stared as the two halves of the abomination were pulling themselves together, and it climbed back onto it's feet. She swiped at it and tore it into shreds, relieved that it didn't attempt to repair itself this time.

Luciela was stunned as several more leaped out of the trees, followed another few. There was a dozen of them now, shuffling towards her. Suddenly, they dashed forwards, some of them leaping through the air.

There was several sickening thuds as Rafaela launched a series of bone spikes at the creatures. Only one stayed down, a spike perforating it's head, while the others just kept coming. The Number Two yelled to the others, "Aim for the heads! It's the only sure way to keep them down!"

Noah leapt through the air, and extended his tendrils, grimacing as several were countered by the abominations, who grew blades from their own bodies. They morphed and twisted, as though their bodies were made of liquid metal.

Even the three Claymore's had joined the fight, ganging up on a single abomination, and cutting it to pieces. It seemed as though the creatures were getting more dangerous as the fight wore on though, as if they were learning from the deaths of their fellows. The abominations were harder to kill, flesh growing tougher and regenerating faster, while they moved more smoothly and were using teamwork to attack Luciela, who they focused almost exclusively on.

Noah speared another one through the head with his fist, and shouted, "Kill them all! We don't want any getting back to the Organisation to report!" He lashed out and cut another one in half vertically, grimacing as it grew spikes in it's death spasms, punching several holes in his abdomen.

As the numbers of the monsters dropped to four, they suddenly took off, sprinting surprisingly fast. The three Awakened beings gave chase, while the three Claymore's took a quick breather. The fight had been short, but intense, and none of them had been well rested from the start.

Rafaela sent volley after volley of bone spikes at the creature she was chasing, and though most of them hit trees or non-vital areas, after several seconds, a lucky shot burst through the monsters head, and it dropped to the ground, dead.

Luciela was having her own troubles with her prey, as she had no long range capabilities. Surging her yoki, she put on a burst of speed and leaped through the air. As she soared over the abomination, she spun and whipped her tails along the ground. As the female Abyssal One landed, the creature fell apart, foul smelling blood spilling across the ground. Luciela just looked at the thing in disgust, and sprinted after the next one.

Noah blurred through the air, using his delicate seeming wings to fly over the forest. He extended his tendrils, shredding a section of forest in an attempt to destroy one of the last two monsters. They were a pain to track, because they gave off no yoki, but fortunately, they still made noise as they tried to escape, and Noah strained his ears to pick up the sounds of the monsters fleeing.

One of the abominations was caught in his assault, and was promptly shredded along with several metres of forest. The other escaped, leaving an arm behind.

The last one was desperate to escape, and was putting all of it's energy into running away. Noah swooped down, but it ducked at the last second, avoiding his slash. The thing moved to the side, trying to put more distance between them, but Luciela leapt from the trees, and pinned the monster beneath her, crushing it's head with a single powerful punch.

She moved to stand on her feet, but her head was shoved down, and ground into the bloody mess spread across the earth. She tried to stand, but several tendrils helped restrain her, and even though she opened several mouths over her body to tear them up, more tendrils just moved to keep her down.

"Now, Luciela my dear, we're going to have a little talk."

_DON'T MIND ME I'M A LINE BREAK_

Again, really really sorry for the delay.

About the Abyssal feeders, the reason they were able to get them out so quickly was because they already had the subjects broken and trained, all they really needed was to implant the Awakened being flesh and deploy them. But, they were a bit hasty, they let them out too early, so they're unprepared for combat. And while this would normally be adjusted for as the survivors would return to base to add their experience to the collective, with more opposition than a weakened Abyssal One, they were killed off and hunted down.

Isley was alone when he faced these things, and he could never have hunted them all down in time. With Noah and Rafaela helping her, Luciela fared much better than her male counterpart.

Hope that pre-empts any questions or complaints about those.

Thanks for reading, please review and let me know if anything needs to be changed

Phoenix


End file.
